


Lure

by Avirra



Category: Starsky & Hutch
Genre: Gen, References to Snowstorm Season 1/Episode 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-08-31 23:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 32
Words: 31,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8597191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avirra/pseuds/Avirra
Summary: Cocaine kingpin Stryker is back and looking for revenge. Step one? A bounty on Starsky and Hutch.





	1. A Bad Date

**Author's Note:**

> Author Note : I'm not listing this as a crossover as the 5-O team doesn't even come into this story until chapter 18. Also, for those who have watched the newer series, this is the original 5-O team, so please don't send me corrections about having Kono's sex wrong. In the first series, Kono was not only a man, but not a small one either.

Starsky had trotted off to the mens room and just about the second he was out of sight, Starsky's date leaned over the table slightly and practically hissed at Hutch.

"Why don't you take the hint and leave, Kenneth?"

She just got a cold stare from him and no verbal comeback.

It was very nearly too much. It had been an absolutely hellish past three days with nuts seeming to be coming out of the woodwork. First, someone had taken potshots at them when they'd gotten out at an abandoned building for a call - which turned out to be fake. Then yesterday, someone tried to run them off the road. If that hadn't been enough, this morning, he'd found the air had been let out on all four tires of his faithful old car. Huggy was trying to find out what the word on the street was, but so far, he'd come up dry. So what better way to end his week than being stuck with the snake queen? Hutch could easily think of a dozen or more places that he'd rather be.

Still, Starsky had invited him. Said they both needed to catch their breath and he had been pestering Hutch to meet 'Tabby' for a couple of weeks now. He could do this for Starsky. Fake smile plastered firmly in place, he endured her words that switched to not-terribly subtle glares when Starsky made it back to the table. He wasn't going to sully the word lady by applying it to this woman, but he had to figure that she was a lot pleasanter to Starsky than she was to him. Truthfully, it would have been hard for her to behave worse. At least she was saving her dirty looks at him for when she thought Starsky wasn't looking.

He managed not to roll his eyes as a thought ran through his head:  " _Starsk - you_ _ **so**_ _owe me for this."_

For his part, Starsky kept looking at his date as if she'd been replaced by an evil twin. Tabitha - Tabby for short - had been an absolute blast to be around all month and now that he finally got an opportunity to introduce her to his partner, she was acting like he had tricked her into visiting the dentist. Did she and Hutch already know each other? He couldn't think of any other reason for the seemingly instant bad blood. He even thought he'd seen her glaring at Hutch from the corner of his eye.

A waiter coming over to their table was a welcome diversion.

"Pardon me, gentlemen. There is a Mister Bear on the phone that would like to speak with one of you?"

Hutch jumped at the chance to get away from the table. His eagerness confirmed to Starsky that what he'd thought he'd seen wasn't just his imagination.

"I'll take it. Be right back, Starsk."

"Don't hurry on our account."

Starsky winced when Tabby said that. Those words could have been playful and teasing, but not with the tone she'd used. He waited until Hutch had left the area to call her on it.

"What is with you tonight? I've never seen you be so deliberately rude to anyone."

"I prefer two person dates, David. You know that old saying about three being a crowd? Well, I hate crowds. Come on - let's go somewhere else for a drink."

"Are you nuts? I specifically invited you here to meet him."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why? He's my partner."

"Does that mean he has to approve of who you date?"

"No. Of course not."

"So what's the big deal? Let's just go. He'll understand we have better things to do."

* * *

Near the entrance to the restaurant, Hutch was pointed over to the phone, rubbing his forehead with his left hand as he picked up the handset in his right.

"Hello?"

"Is this Detective Kenneth Hutchinson?"

Hutch stopped rubbing his forehead in mid-movement. Whoever this was, it wasn't Huggy Bear.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"Doesn't matter. Listen very carefully. Your partner, David Starsky is wearing a blue shirt and is currently in an argument with a curly haired blonde. He's also in the cross-hairs of my rifle."

His breath caught in his throat, but Hutch swallowed hard and managed to speak.

"What do you want?"

"Very simple. You will not try to signal or communicate with your partner in any way. Look to your left. There is a hallway. See the door at the end of it?"

"I do."

"You will hang up the phone and walk through that door without stopping to speak with anyone. Once through the door, you will put your hands on top of your head with your fingers interlaced, close your eyes and you will remain that way until told otherwise. Any deviation from these instructions and the woman will have to see if the cleaners can get Starsky's blood out of her dress. Understood?"

"Understood."

"The clock is ticking, Hutchinson."

Feeling as if he was inside of a room that was closing in on him, Hutch hung up the phone, took a deep breath and headed for the rear door. There was no choice in the matter - no way to relay any information without getting Starsky killed. Opening the door, he stepped out into the alleyway and slowly put his hands on top of his head. The harder part was closing his eyes and keeping them shut when every fiber of his being was telling him not to. He nearly jumped out of his skin when another voice spoke up near him.

"My partner still has the rifle aimed. Down on your knees."

Hutch did as he was told, grimacing as he felt his handcuffs being pulled out. He hated being cuffed - especially with his own gear and he knew that's what was coming. He wasn't disappointed. A hand pressed against the back of his head then and Hutch could feel something being unrolled - taken around his head and over his eyes, over and over.

Another new voice. This one female and nervous sounding.

"I don't get it. I thought you were going to get Starsky tonight."

"You've got a head, Angel. Use it for something other than slapping makeup on. You're thinking like the others. Sure, Starsky was an option, but it really didn't matter which of them took that phone call. So long as we got one of them."

There was the sound of ripping tape and Hutch reflexively tried to avoid it before a hand grabbed his chin to hold him still. The tape was pressed tightly over his lips then smoothed down roughly.

"I still don't figure it. Don't you need both to collect?"

Whoever the man was, he sighed.

"The bounty is for both of them **alive** , babycakes. You want the right prey, you use the right lure. Having Starsky in our gunsights got us Hutchinson. Now having Hutchinson will get us Starsky."


	2. The Night Gets Worse

Cooperation to protect his partner was one thing - staying still while they were talking of using him against his partner was another. The man seemed to still be in front of him from his voice so Hutch lunged upward and forward as hard as he was able. There was a momentary satisfaction of his shoulder meeting the man's solar plexus area and driving the air out of him.

That was unfortunately as far he got before someone else grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground. Then he heard the voice he'd heard on the phone in person. At least that meant the man no longer had a rifle trained on Starsky.

"Put your gun back away. Your own damn fault for talking about his partner like he wasn't even here. Idiot. Angel - get over here. If he'd had you do your job, this wouldn't have happened."

Feeling his sleeve being pushed up gave Hutch a sickening feeling of what was coming next, but the phone caller literally sat on him while using both of his hands to keep Hutch's arm still as the needle slipped in.

"How long is this going to take, Angel?"

"His size and the way he's fighting it? I'd guess ten to fifteen minutes. But once it takes effect, you should be good for at least six hours. Possibly twelve - but I'd bet more on the low end for a guy in his condition."

The man he'd hit started grousing.

"Ten to fifteen minutes? Geeze - couldn't you have gotten something that worked faster?"

"Sure - if you'd wanted me to establish an IV here in the alley and start him on a drip, I could have had him sedated in three minutes, but I was told you wanted something simple that would last awhile."

"Carl, quit your bellyaching and get the picture. Then help me load him in the car. We've already been out here longer than I'm comfortable with."

Despite his current predicament, Hutch was a bit startled at the way this Angel woman was reeling off her facts. Apparently she wasn't the vapid headed woman that Carl had been treating her as. But most likely, she was someone new to dealing with criminal situations. Like kidnapping a cop.

Someone grabbed a handful of his hair to force his head up, then Hutch heard the distinctive sound of a Polaroid camera ejecting a picture.

"That'll do. Load him up. We need to make sure his partner knows that contacting their precinct would be bad for Hutchinson's life expectancy."

* * *

Back at the table, Starsky's eyes kept straying back to the direction Hutch had disappeared in. Phone call shouldn't have taken that long, but the rest rooms were that direction as well. If Tabby had gotten on Hutch's nerves, he might have gone in to wash his face and cool down.

For her part, Tabby seemed to get a little more pleased with herself with every passing moment. Finally, just before Starsky was about to get up to check on him, she smiled and picked up her drink.

"I guess he's not as stupid as he sounds. He took the hint."

The dark blue eyes narrowed as they came back to focus on her.

"What is your problem with Hutch? Have you guys met before?"

"Ugh. Of course not."

The way her nose crinkled in a look of distaste was starting to really piss him off. The memories of the last four weeks were starting to crash and burn.

"So? What have you got against my partner?"

She just gave him an incredulous look like it should have been obvious.

"Have you been around him so long you don't even listen to him anymore?"

Now Starsky was looking at her as if she was speaking another language.

"Excuse me?"

"The man stutters."

That made him blink as he thought back to Hutch's remark when they'd come in the door together. _'I feel a little uncomfortable, buddy - couldn't we have just met somewhere for coffee?'_ And when he ran the introductions through his mind, yes - Hutch had stammered, but only a little. She had been wrong about him not hearing how Hutch spoke. Starsky wasn't only fully aware of Hutch's stammer, but had even learned to use it as a gauge of how Hutch was doing. The stammer really only came up on when Hutch was excited, tired or anxious.

Then what Tabby had just said replayed in his head - _'he's not as stupid as he sounds'._

"You are seriously telling me that you think Hutch is stupid because of a speech impediment? He's the smartest guy I know."

"Maybe you should expand your social circles."

That last hung in the air and even she seemed to realize that she'd taken a step too far. Starsky looked away and called over the waiter.

"I'll take the check. And call a cab for Miss Thompson."

"You aren't even going to drive me home?"

"After the way you insulted me and my best friend? You're lucky I'm not leaving you with the check."

Without another word, Starsky left the table and went to look for Hutch.


	3. Bad News from Huggy

Starsky asked for where the call had been taken. No Hutch. Then he checked out the mens room. Still no Hutch.

Frowning to himself while thinking, Starsky's fingers drummed lightly on the restaurant's front counter for a minute, then he signaled over to one of the staff.

"Excuse me, but my partner came up here to take a phone call. Any idea which way he went after that?"

The waiter just shook his head, then his eyes widened as Starsky pulled out his badge.

"Mind if I use your phone to make a couple of quick calls?"

With permission granted, Starsky called up Huggy Bear first.

"It is your dime and my time - don't waste either. You have reached the Bear."

"Hug? It's Starsky."

"Bay City's own Dick Tracy! Glad you called. Got some news in for you and Blondie."

"Is this different news than what you gave to Hutch?"

"You've lost me, Boy Wonder. I haven't talked with Hutch since the two of you were here yesterday."

"Wait - so you didn't call tonight?"

"Well, yeah. I called the precinct and they said you were signed out. Then I tried calling both of your home numbers - but neither of you were home, so I figured I'd try to hit you up a little later."

"So you didn't call us here at the restaurant?"

"Considering I didn't know that you were even at a restaurant, my little Jewish brother, I would say that is an affirmative. Mind telling me why the two of us are exchanging questions or do we have to hit twenty of them first?"

"I think Hutch might be missing, Hug. My ex-date may have gotten him mad, but I can't see him leaving without letting me know or at least leaving me a note. And a waiter came to the table saying a 'Mister Bear' wanted to speak with one of us. Hutch left to take the call and that was the last I saw of him."

His own choice of words made Starsky wince. Huggy's reaction didn't improve the feeling.

"Ah hell, Starsk. This is bad. Capital B - A - D bad. News I'm hearing from the very few that will talk to me? There's a bounty out for you and Hutch. Got to be someone with enough coins to rub together to start sparks because I still haven't got a lead on who it is. And enough coins to make folks that wouldn't normally be considered hit men to think about taking their chances."

Tabby glared at Starsky on her way out of the door to the waiting cab, expression darkening even more when she saw he wasn't even looking her direction. Glancing at his Torino as she stalked out, she spotted an envelope addressed to Starsky underneath one of the wiper blades. Snatching it off, she stuffed the envelope into her purse before climbing into the cab.

* * *

Back with the cop-nappers, Hutch was bundled into the back seat, ending up positioned with his head in what had to have been Angel's lap. She checked his pulse periodically as they drove.

"Is he out yet?"

"What I gave him isn't a knock-out thing, Carl. Oh, he might go to sleep, but the main thing is that he'll be relaxed and unable to put up much of a fight. Stronger stuff can cause some people to quit breathing and Mike said he didn't want to risk it."

"That's what I said alright. Remember, the bounty for just of one them is only a quarter of what we get for both of them."

"Yeh, yeh, I know. Alive."

"Right. Now, did you leave the note for Starsky?"

"Just like you said to. Note and the photo in an envelope on his windshield with instructions for him to be at his home come 9 pm or we start taking out his lack of cooperation on his partner. And before you ask, yes, I put in the note about not contacting his precinct."

"Good. That give us just under an hour to get this one settled. You know Hutchinson, if you're lucky, your partner follows instructions well. The two of you are going to end up in the same way, but no reason for extra suffering between now and then, right?"

His head was feeing heavy and he was getting groggier by the minute, but Hutch still tried to respond to that past the tape. Angel's hand pressed down over his mouth and muffled the sounds he could manage even further.

"Shhh... just quit fighting the drugs. It's inevitable."


	4. The Clock is Ticking

Leaving the restaurant, Starsky climbed inside of his beloved Torino and patted the steering wheel with his hands as he ran thoughts through his mind. It was still possible, after all, that Tabby had prodded a sensitive spot on Hutch too hard and he'd simply gone home. But that wouldn't take into account that phone call.

He wouldn't feel right about contacting Captain Dobey until he went and checked out Hutch's apartment first. Yes - good thought. Go to Hutch's first to verify whether he's there or not, then stop back by The Pits to see if Hutch had ended up going there. After all, if Huggy spotted his partner, he'd have Hutch stay put until they could let Starsky know he could quit worrying. If he got there and still no Hutch, then it might be the time to give the Captain a heads up.

Cranking his car, he headed off toward Hutch's place.

_"If he did just have a snit and went home without telling me, I'm going to punch him in the arm. Hard."_

Stopped at a light, he started patting his hands on the steering wheel again. He'd never in his life hoped so badly that he'd be able to punch Hutch.

It didn't look promising when he pulled up, but Starsky went up anyway and made use of the key Hutch kept hidden. No Hutch.

Relocking the door, Starsky replaced the key and glanced down at his watch. 8:30. Might as well head on over to Huggy's and hope that he'd seen or heard from Hutch, but he was really starting to get a sick feeling about everything.

When he walked into the Pits, Starsky immediately scanned the room as Huggy came out to meet him. A slight shake of Huggy's head was all it took to send his last hopes tumbling.

"Come on in, Starsk – heard a little more, but let's go sit down at a booth first. Coffee?"

"Yeh. Please. From the head shake, I'm guessing the news isn't about Hutch himself?"

"Correct, unfortunately. Nothing yet on our blond cowboy, but have gotten a few more details on the bounty out on you guys."

They only paused long enough to collect two cups of coffee before Huggy herded the distracted Starsky over to a booth, sitting down across from him.

"So – what's the bad news?"

"How bad it is depends on how you look at it, my man. Some more details finally hit a pair of ears that owed the Bear a few favors. Word is that what a man collects depends on what a man delivers. Someone delivers you dead, they get 5K per body."

"Ten thousand for two dead cops? They couldn't even buy a Corvette to go on the run in."

"Agreed – not a lot of incentive, but they don't want you dead. Price goes up to 25K for just one of you alive. Both of you alive? Nets one hundred thousand. Someone wants you alive and they want you bad. As to the figure behind the offer, still not clear on that, but what little I have points toward one of the powers behind local drug trafficking. You guys have made more than a couple of enemies with those kind of connections, so I know that doesn't exactly narrow the field. On the admittedly slender plus side, at least if this does have something to do with Hutch being missing, best money is on him being alive."

Sipping on the coffee without really tasting it, Starsky thought over the money being offered. A hundred thousand would make a lot of folks sit up and take notice. Especially since they wouldn't have to be on the run for being a cop killer.

"I wonder how many of them will take the time to think that if we end up dead, they'd be considered as accessories to it?"

"Not many will think past the dollar signs, my man. You know that."

* * *

Back at Starsky's apartment, the phone was ringing steadily as the clock steadily moved from 9:00 to 9:01 to 9:02 before the ringing stopped.

"It would appear that either your partner can't follow instructions or can't tell the time. Too bad. Get him ready. Oh, and hand me the phone book."

Hutch was still doing his best to fight as they uncuffed him then stripped his shirt off of him, but he was able to put up just about as much resistance as a drowsy over-sized toddler. He wished he could see where they were and what was going on. Dizzy at he felt, it was hard to try and keep track of what was going on just by listening.

The voice of Angel was sounding strained as he felt himself being sort of draped into a chair, then felt the chair being scooted forward. Someone grabbed his left wrist and drug that arm over the table top now in front of him.

"Are you sure you really want to do this? You said you needed both of them."

"They specified alive, Angel. Not undamaged. Get the tape off of him while I make the call."

Peeling away the tape gag that had been there for more than an hour hurt even though he could tell she was trying to be gentle. Once it was free, she put something at his mouth. The shape felt peculiar, but once he realized he could get water from it, he drank all that she offered him.

"Looks funny seeing you holding a fricking sippy cup for a full-grown man."

"Shut up and quit giving Angel a hard time, Carl. Phone's ringing on the other end now. Yeah – I'm looking for a Detective David Starsky. Sure. I'll hold."


	5. Needing Directions

One of the waitresses looked over apologetically to where Huggy sat with Starsky.

"Boss? Someone is on the phone asking for Starsky."

Starsky's head snapped around.

"Did it sound like Hutch?"

"No, sorry – is your name really David?"

Huggy exchanged looks with his friend after that question.

"Come with me, we'll take this call in my office."

Leading the way, he held the door for Starsky as he pointing to the phone on his desk. Closing the door behind them, Huggy stayed close, both to offer support and to listen in if possible. Starsky took a deep breath, trying to keep both his hand and voice steady as he picked up the handset.

"Yes?"

"Is this Detective David Starsky?"

"It is. And you are?"

"Very disappointed in you. And so is your partner, although Kenneth here can't express himself very clearly at the moment. We're both quite concerned about how you didn't take our directions seriously. And you know what that means. We will need to show you just how serious this is."

Starsky's expression was both confused and panicked.

"No! Wait! What directions? I never got any directions!"

There was a pause on the other end so still that Starsky could hear his own heart pounding.

"We left very clear instructions in an envelope on your windshield, Detective. I must admit that you sound desperate enough that I am tempted to believe that you never saw it. Not that it will make any difference. We promised that something would happen and it will regardless of whether you saw how you could have prevented it or not. I trust this will convince you that any future instructions will not contain idle threats."

The cry of pain that came over the line was easily heard by both men. Starsky had a white knuckled grip on the handset. Huggy didn't need an explanation. He knew Hutch's voice almost as well as Starsky did. It seemed like a long time before the caller spoke again.

"It is now 9:30. You will not contact your precinct. You have until exactly 11:00 to follow the directions. If you disregard them again, the price paid by Hutchinson will be going up."

"I don't **have** the directions!"

"Then you have a problem, Detective."

When the dial-tone came on, Starsky came near to breaking the phone when he slammed the headset back onto the cradle. Huggy gave him room and let him rant for a couple of minutes before speaking up.

"Deep breath, bro. Deep breath. Me and you got some heavy thinking to do."

Starsky shook his head and waved his hand at the same time.

"No, Hug - you don't need to be involved in this."

"The Bear is involved. Until our blond beauty comes back to take his place by your side, I'm the relief pitcher. Dave?"

The use of his actual first name drew Starsky's attention. Huggy was looking at him with as serious an expression as he'd ever seen on the man.

"I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. Now - talk to the Bear. I want details. Don't leave out so much as a fly landing on the table. From when you guys met up that night until now. Longer you take to tell, less time we got to do."

He almost started to argue again, but then he gave a weak half-smile and took a seat.

"Why not? Maybe going back over everything will jog something in my memory."

It took a surprisingly short amount of time to cover it all. Huggy was seated with his fist under his chin taking it all in, not interrupting with a single question until the narrative reached Starsky arriving at The Pits. Then he spoke without hesitation.

"Call the restaurant. See what cab company they called. Man who drives cars for a living is likely to notice a ride like yours. Maybe he saw who put the envelope on your car without knowing what he was seeing."

Grabbing onto the chance, Starsky grabbed the phone book Huggy held out to him and made the call to find out which company they had called. Flipping to the cab company listing, he rang them up. After identifying himself and what he was after, he got his first piece of luck. The driver had just gone off duty and was currently at their office turning in his logs. He was a little cautious at first, but once Starsky assured him that he was in no trouble himself, the man opened up.

"Oh yeh - I remember that run. Next to the last for the night. Man, that woman had a head of steam going. Thought she was going to snap the wiper off of that car on her way by it. Say, is that what this is about? She damage that car?"

Starsky forced himself to breath.

"Describe the car to me."

"It was a looker. Candy apple red with a flashy white stripe. Two door Gran Torino. I know I'd be mad if that was mine and somebody was manhandling the wipers."

"You definitely saw her mess with the wipers?"

"Oh yeah. Stomped away from it stuffing a rag or something into her purse, climbed in and slammed my door."

Starsky jotted down the man's driver information in a hurry, thanking him profusely for his help.

"I think I know where we can find those directions, Hug. Let's roll."


	6. Huggy Takes the Lead

When they pulled up outside of Tabby's apartment, Huggy casually reached a hand over.

"Starsky? Let me borrow your badge. I'm taking the lead here."

Starsky knew he was looking puzzled, but Huggy just kept that same confident tone.

"My brother. Trust in the Bear."

"Alright. I hope you know what you're doing."

The clock ticking had a lot to do with Starsky passing over his shield, but Huggy just beamed and got out of the car.

"Don't cramp my style and don't say anything unless I ask you something directly. Got it?"

"But?"

"Trust. The. Bear. Follow me."

The sharp rap on the door got a response.

"Who is it?"

"Lieutenant Brown. We need to ask you a few questions, Miss Thompson."

Huggy flashed the badge toward the crack she opened in the door, security chain visible about where her eye was.

"Now?"

"Ma'am, you are possibly in serious trouble for aiding and abetting the kidnapping of a police detective. You can cooperate her or we can arrest you and question you after you've spent a night in lockup."

She literally squeaked and couldn't get the chain off of the door fast enough.

"David? What's going on?"

"We already have Detective Starsky's statement. We need yours independently of his so please don't consult with him."

Her eyes flickered from Starsky back to Huggy.

"You don't look like a cop."

Huggy just gave the woman an indulgent look.

"I work undercover, ma'am. If someone could point at me and say _'hey, he looks like a cop'_ , I wouldn't be doing my job very well, would I? And believe me, I am very good at my job. Now, we have witnesses that say that they saw you removing a ransom note from Detective Starsky's vehicle shortly after Detective Hutchinson was kidnapped."

"I – I –"

Huggy never touched the woman, but he leaned in closer.

"You are aware of the seriousness of a charge of kidnapping? Do you have any idea just how much more serious it is when a police officer is involved? From the statements I've already taken, it appears that you were encouraging Detective Hutchinson to leave by himself. Was that your job? To separate the two of them so that the kidnappers could take him easier?"

"No! It had to have been a coincidence!"

"Ah – so you want me to believe that you just _happened_ to separate them at a time when kidnappers just _happened_ to be waiting to jump him?"

Huggy gave Starsky an amused look.

"Oh yes – a jury is going to _love_ her. She's already looking at ten to twenty years hard time and that's if we get him back unharmed."

It was hard for Starsky to keep out of this, but Huggy was playing Tabby like a violin, so he kept quiet as Tabby's voice kept going up in pitch and volume.

"It wasn't like that!"

"Miss Thompson? If you plan to convince me of anything, you'd better start with producing the envelope you removed from Detective Starsky's vehicle tonight."

Frantically, Tabby started searching around for where she'd thrown her purse when she'd come through the door. Grabbing it up, she reached inside and pulled out the crumpled envelope.

"Detective Starsky? If you would take that and examine it?"

Moving over, Starsky took the envelope from Tabby's now trembling hand and opened it. He might almost have felt sorry for her, but the first thing he saw was the Polaroid image of his helpless partner. He also saw the scrap of paper with the instructions.  Taking a breath to steady himself, he nodded to Huggy.

"It's all here, Lieutenant."

He turned the photo around far enough for Tabby to see it and she paled as her trembling increased.

"You had better hope and pray that we find him alive. Come on, Lieutenant. We're running out of time."

Once the pair was back in the Torino, Huggy just smirked and passed the badge back over to Starsky.

"Hug – if this was a movie, I'd put you in for an Oscar."

"Now, what would I do with a statue of a nude white dude spray painted gold? Hey, like I told you. Trust the Bear. Where to next?"

"My place. They're going to be calling us there."

When Starsky used the word 'us', Huggy just smiled and settled back for the ride.


	7. Another Deadline

"Come on in, Hug. Mi casa, su casa."

Glancing around, Huggy entered then brushed off his hands after giving a poke to a slightly petrified looking pizza box.

"Nice. Some paint, a few pillows and you could have yourself a real dump here, Starsk. Cleaning lady's year off?"

"No, smart guy. Well. it is her month off. She's visiting her sister in New York."

Starsky sighed, automatically tossing his jacket to the side. Then he glanced out of a window before wandering to another and taking a peek out of it as well.

"Settle down, my man. You're getting me antsy and the Bear is doing some serious head work here."

"Head work? What about?"

"Well, I was just thinking about -"

The phone ringing made them both jump. Starsky practically dove for it and had it before the second ring even started.

"Hello!"

"Detective Starsky. Glad to see you were able to find the directions in time. I'm sure your partner is grateful as well."

"What do you want?"

The voice laughed.

"I guess it's true that partners react the same after they've worked together for awhile. Those are exactly the same words that he used. You will leave your badge and weapon behind. In fifteen minutes, you will leave your home and walk carefully across the street. You will turn right, then walk until you reach the first alley. Then you will walk halfway down the alley, stop and place your hands on top of your head with your fingers interlaced, close your eyes and remain that way until instructed otherwise. Do you understand?"

"Yes, but -"

"Good."

The line went dead then. Starsky's eyes were dark as he hung it up. Without saying a word, he moved over to his desk, taking out and tossing down his badge before removing his holster and laying it down next to where the badge landed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! I only heard your very limited part of that conversation, Starsky. Fill me in."

Starsky needed to vent any way, so as he paced, he told Huggy what the man had said over the phone. By now, Huggy was leaning against the desk watching his curly haired friend pace.

"Same words, huh? That fits with what I was thinking."

Turning toward Huggy, Starsky gave him an irritated look.

"You can quit playing at being a detective now, Hug."

For once, Huggy snapped back at him.

"I'm not playing at anything. I'm trying to look out for a pair of stubborn white boys that I - for reason's unclear to me at the present moment- happen to be fond of. And one of us has to be thinking. These guys rattled you with that deadline crap."

"Yeh - I guess that they did. Sorry for snapping at you, but I've got to get going."

"Can't let you do that, little brother. You still aren't thinking straight."

"They have Hutch!"

"I know that. Still can't let you do that."

Turning to pick up his jacket, Starsky continued talking.

"You can't stop me, Huggy."

"Oh, I think I can."

Turning back toward Huggy to argue, Starsky stopped dead. Huggy had picked his gun off of the desk. And had it pointed right at him.


	8. Hard Decisions

"Easy, Huggy. Just give me the gun."

"I don't think so, Starsky. Now, take that lily white butt of yours over there and park it in the chair. This seems to be the only way to get your full attention at the moment."

Starsky grumbled the entire way, but in the back of his mind, he did have to acknowledge that Huggy had at least one point. These guys had him so anxious about Hutch that he was reacting instead of thinking. Part of that must have been visible in his body language because Huggy gave a small, satisfied nod.

"Better already. Now, Mister Detective? What part of what the man said strikes you as odd?"

Not being given the option to move around, Starsky gave an irritated sigh, but closed his eyes and replayed the conversation back one more time.

"He - he said we react the same. React the same to what?"

"I was thinking while you were driving. Can you imagine these guys being able to take Blondie down without a fight?"

Starsky could answer that without the slightest hesitation.

"No."

"Me either. But did you hear a fight? Anybody mention seeing or hearing a struggle?"

Starsky was starting to frown as he was starting to think he could see where Huggy was leading him.

"No. So - Hutch went with them willingly? That doesn't make any sense, Hug."

"Not if he was reacting then like you're reacting now. That phone call - this phone call? You know they were watching the restaurant. Lots of glass? Could you have been seen from outside?"

His nod came slowly as his brain shifted into overdrive.

"Hutch went with them because they were threatening to do something to me - or maybe Tabby. Even if Hutch had wanted to bust her in the nose, he wouldn't have let some loser shoot her if he could have stopped it."

"Now that brain is starting to work again. Good."

"Doesn't make any difference, Hug. I have to go or they'll hurt Hutch again."

"So, you prefer him dead is what you're saying?"

"No!"

"Starsky - once they have you, they have the set. 100K and the two of you are not likely to be seen again outside of a funeral parlor. But listen to me - they aren't going to kill Hutch. Hurt - well, maybe. But they already have him -"

Groaning, Starsky let his head fall into his hands.

"And alive he's worth five times more to them than he is dead. I see what you're saying now, Hug. If I balk, he's hurt - but I co-operate, he's dead."

When Starsky looked up again, Huggy had put the gun back into its holster.

"More to the point? While you're free, Hutch has somebody looking for him that won't stop until he's found. Call Dobey. We need a squad on this street that can get you away from here. I'll stay and answer the phone if it rings again. Main thing right now is to keep you out of their hands."

He wanted to argue, but instead, Starsky took a deep breath then reclaimed his badge and gun.

"What will you tell them?"

"I will think of something. Just get focused on finding our Beach Boy."

Nodding, Starsky picked up the phone and dialed, running the fingers of his left hand through his hair as he waited for the Captain to answer the phone.

"Cap? We've got big problems, sir."


	9. Change of Plans

Mike's eyes strayed from looking at the front of Starsky's place with binoculars to glancing at his watch. Just one more minute until -

His thoughts froze as he suddenly saw a black and white police unit pulling up behind Starsky's car. Two uniformed officers got out and went to Starsky's door, just as it was opening. Mike wished he could read lips as he saw Starsky arguing and gesturing to the other cops, but the pair shook their heads and seemed to argue right back.

Finally, Starsky had thrown his hands in the air and gotten into his Torino with one of the two policemen climbing into the passenger seat while the remaining officer went back to the cruiser. Starsky took one more look in the direction of the alley, then pulled away from the curb and drove off. The police car pulled out smoothly behind him and followed.

Eyes narrowing, Mike scowled. What the hell?

Using the binoculars again, he looked back at the windows of Starsky's place. He could swear he saw movement inside. Lowering the glasses slightly, he tapped against their metal frame with one fingernail for a few moments and thought before picking up the walkie-talkie at his side.

"Meet me in front of the building, Carl. Something's not right, but I've got an idea."

* * *

Spending the evening babysitting Starsky's apartment was not exactly in line with Huggy's idea of a good time, but the same could have been said for this whole day. Glancing around, he saw a framed shot of Starsky and Hutch together sitting on a shelf, a crooked smile forming as Huggy recognized the shot as being one that he'd taken of those two crazy cops at The Pits. He still wasn't sure how he'd ended up even tolerating those two, let alone getting along with them so well that he'd become close to them.

Picking up the frame, he studied it closer - typical pose. Starsky with those grown man's eyes somehow stuck over the top of a kid's grin and Hutch next to him, looking just slightly embarrassed at being asked to pose. Maybe that was what had drawn him to them. You knew what you were getting with those two. The Bear never could abide a fake. Not when it came down to serious stuff like where you drew the line between acquaintance and friend.

Part of him still didn't believe he'd pulled the gun on Starsky. Thankfully, the move had stunned the man enough that he didn't press the issue. Huggy still wasn't 100% sure what he would have if Starsky hadn't backed down. He knew that it wasn't fear of the gun that made Starsky stop - it was the realization of just how serious Huggy was about him not leaving.

At the sound of the key in the lock, Huggy frowned, turning with the frame still in his hands as the two men came in with guns. _Aw hell._

The smaller of the two pointed his weapon right where Huggy didn't want to see it point. At him.

The larger man crossed his arms, glaring at Huggy.

"What happened with Detective Starsky?"

"I heard him arguing with the other cops.  Captain Dobey had ordered him to come to the station.  Starsky refused without telling him why and the Captain didn't like that.  Dobey sent a squad car for Starsky to make him report in."

"Why?"

"Said something about some cab driver seeing something funny going on at some restaurant. Hey, listen dudes - I only heard what they were yelling. I only stopped by 'cause Starsky owes me a few bucks and I need 'em. Told him I was staying put here until he got back and paid up his debts."

"What's with the frame?"

"This thing?  My grandma used to stick her emergency cash behind her framed pictures. Thought I'd see if she wasn't the only one that did that."

A police siren sounded several streets away, but a much louder sound was much closer as Huggy's arm jerked and dropped the picture frame, breaking the glass. That crazy idiot by the door shot him? Huggy stared in shock as a blood stain began spreading on his left sleeve.

"Carl - you moron!"

The guy doing the yelling came over and grabbed Huggy's uninjured arm, shoving his gun into Huggy's ribs.

"Let's go. We want to be clear of the area before the cops send someone to check out that gunshot. Get walking before you end up with another bullet to join the first."

As he was forced out of the door, Huggy heard the phone start to ring.


	10. Complications

Captain Dobey watched as Starsky was attempting to wear out a two foot strip of the carpet in his office while he paced back and forth waiting for the phone to be picked up at his apartment.

"Starsky, even if Huggy had decided to grab a shower, he would have picked up by now."

"Something's not right, Captain. Huggy said he'd stay there and answer the phone if they called again."

"So? Maybe they had already called again while you were on your way here and he left afterward."

Reluctantly, he hung the phone back up.

"Maybe. But if that was the case, I would have expected him to ca-"

The phone of Dobey's desk rang just then and the Captain gave Starsky's hand a swat when he reached for it.

"I can answer my own phone. Dobey here."

Dobey was showing every sign of getting a headache from whatever he was hearing over the phone.

"I want the area sealed off and I want a full set of pictures along with the report and I wanted it yesterday. Keep a squad there until further notice."

Hanging the phone back up, he looked over to Starsky and pointed to a chair. The detective had been in near perpetual motion since he had entered his office and started relating everything that had happened so far. The Polaroid image currently on his desk was a stark reminder of how serious the situation was.

"Sit."

Grumbling that he was being told to sit more often than a dog in obedience school, he complied before looking to his Captain for news. The expression already told him that the news wasn't likely to be good. Figuring that there was no easy way to start, Dobey just started talking.

"There was a shooting at your place. No-one's there anymore, but there's apparently a broken picture frame and blood. Blood drops leading down the stairs as well, so I think we can presume that whoever has Hutch now has Huggy as well."

* * *

Elsewhere, Huggy still had his right hand clamped down over the wound in his left arm as he was forced back out of the car that had brought them here from Starsky's place.

Taking in all the details that he could, Huggy was all too well aware that things weren't looking good for him. The men hadn't tried to hide anything from him. Not their faces, their ride, where they were going - nothing. Folks that didn't mind you taking notice were folks that normally weren't planning on letting you ever have a chance to put that information to use.

Another shove nearly sent him sprawling, but he managed to keep on his feet as he suddenly saw a cot with Hutch on it laying on his stomach. His left hand was bandaged and his wrists were cuffed behind his back.

"Angel! Get in here and patch this guy so he doesn't bleed all over everything. We're going to have to hang onto Hutchinson longer than planned. This guy can tend him when you're away."

Huggy was more than a little surprised to see the woman coming into the room was a dark-skinned beauty who wore clothing that reminded him of the Caribbean. She began immediately to help him take off his jacket and shirt so that she could get a better look.

"This isn't what we agreed on, Mike."

"So? Then let him bleed to death and you can stay here all the time. I'm sure your kid won't mind going to Child Welfare.

She just glared at him as he slammed the door, locking it from the other side. Then she sighed and went back to tending to Huggy's arm.

"You could really use a few stitches in this, but I don't really have a numbing agent."

Giving her a tight smile, Huggy tried not to grimace.

"If you need to do it, do it. Bleeding out isn't on my 'to-do' list for this century. How's my blond twin over there doing?"

Her brows rose slightly as she prepared to flush then stitch the wound.

"Blond twin? Hm, I suppose I can see some slight resemblance."

"If you can, I don't know that I should be trusting your eyesight enough for those stitches, little sister."

She just smirked and pointed to the other cot.

"Just lie down and try to relax. I'm afraid this is going to hurt quite a bit and I'd rather you were already down when you pass out."

"Sounds like a guaranteed good time all around."

The mix of the blood loss, shock from the shooting and the pain of the stitches made him lose his hold on consciousness before Angel had finished the stitches.


	11. Asking a favor

There were days that Captain Dobey thought he was running a zoo. This was one of them and on these days he wished he really was running a zoo just so that he'd have access to a tranquilizer rifle. If he had one, he'd certainly have been tempted to use it on Starsky right now.

"No - I am not letting you anywhere near your place, so settle down."

"But Huggy -"

"Huggy and I may not see eye to eye on a lot of things, but when the man's right, he's right. Soon as they have you, they've got no more need to hang onto either one of you and we'll lose our only shot at getting Hutch back."

The Captain sighed. He really did understand where Starsky's head was at. It was one of those situations every good cop hated – damned if you do, damned if you don't. They would both be far happier doing something instead of waiting, especially when the lives of two people were at stake.

"Listen – I promise you this. We get anything even remotely like a solid lead on Hutchinson? You're in. So how about manning a desk and a phone? Sooner we manage to get that lead, sooner we can bring them home."

When Huggy came to, it was just he and Hutch in the area. He felt weak and feverish, but he did his best to shake that off and get moving. He wasn't restrained, Hutch was and couldn't even begin to try to help himself. As he forced himself to get onto his feet, Huggy wondered how long he'd been out. No telling, but long enough for the soreness to really set up in his bad arm. Didn't take him long to figure out that his left arm was pretty much useless for now.

"Well, first things first. They gonna leave you in the Bear's care, they'll have to deal with what all that entails."

The first thing he got rid of was the tape from Hutch's mouth. The gauze over his eyes was disposed of next. Hutch winced a little as his eyes tried to readjust. When he was finally able to focus on Huggy, his voice was raspy.

"Damn."

"Well, I must say that I am equally overjoyed to see you too, Blondie."

That got a half-smile out of the blond detective.

"You know that's not what I meant. I heard your voice, but I was really hoping you weren't actually stuck in here with me."

Vision clearing a bit more, Hutch noticed the bandages on Huggy's arm. It took another moment for what that meant to penetrate his brain fog.

"What happened – are you alright?

"Those are my lines, bro – hold on. You sound like you've eaten a box of crackers."

It didn't take Huggy long to locate a sink and a semi-clean glass. Bringing it over to where Hutch was – easy. Maneuvering the man so that he could actually get some of the water into him was far trickier, but he finally managed to help him get a few sips.

"Your coordination is way off, Hutch. They hit your head?"

"Drugs. Not sure what kind. Supposed to keep me from being able to fight them. I caught bits and pieces of what they were saying, but I'm still not sure exactly what's going on."

"Here. Let's get a little more water in you and then the Bear will tell you a story."

It really didn't take Huggy very long to catch Hutch up on what he'd found out about the bounty on him and his partner along with the events leading up to Huggy being there with him. Hutch shook his head as he tried to visualize Huggy holding a gun on Starsky.

"Oh, man - Starsk must've had a cow."

"And white folks have the nerve to say we have some odd expressions. Serious time though, Hutch? It was the only way to get our boy to slow down long enough to listen to what I was trying to tell him."

"I appreciate that, Hug. And you're right. I don't want to be the bait that lures Starsk to his death. I'd rather he stay alive and kick these guys asses for both of us."

"For all three of us now, my taller twin. That reminds me, what do you know about this woman Angel?"

"Not much, Hug. Never even laid eyes on her yet, but I can't figure why she's hanging out with these two losers. You could add both of their IQs together and probably not get half of hers, but the one called Carl talks to her like she's a moron."

They both went quiet and looked toward the door at the sound of it unlocking. Angel came in with a small tray and as soon as she was in, the door was pulled shut behind her and locked. When she saw Hutch was missing both blindfold and gag, she startled a bit, but finally came on over with the food.

The food was nothing but warm soup, but considering that Hutch never did get to eat anything at the restaurant, he was hungry enough not to care. That is, until Angel pulled out some pills. Hutch immediately scooted away from her as well as he could and, when he saw what was going on, Huggy moved over to help block if need be as Hutch spoke.

"Please. No."

Settling down to Hutch's left so that he could help support him with his good arm, Huggy kept a wary eye on Angel, who was frowning, but so far not attempting to force the pills into Hutch's mouth.

"This one is just an antibiotic. I have one of those for each of you. The other? Well, it's swallow or get another injection. I thought this way would be easier on you."

"Neither of us are taking anything, little sister."

She shot a frustrated look at Huggy.

"Quit calling me that. And you both need the antibiotics to head off any potential infections."

"Big deal. I'm gonna be dead soon. Who cares how healthy I am when they pull the trigger again?"

At Huggy's question. she gave her head a vehement shake.

"No. They told me that there wouldn't be any killing."

"You're too smart not to know better. For one? I bet I wasn't included in that statement whenever they first recruited you or whatever it is they did to you. Second? They didn't bother to hide themselves from me. I've seen them, heard them, know their first names. The Bear knows the score, lady. They don't intend to let me go."

"Or me. I know you've heard enough that you know they're going to sell me along with my best friend if they can get their hands on him. You really think the guy shelling out the cash has good intentions?"

Fidgeting with the pills in her hand, Angel couldn't bring herself to meet the blue eyes that were studying her as intently as they could.

"He wants you alive."

"So he can kill me himself. Probably slowly. I think you'd agree that's not much for me to look forward to."

Hutch just gave a tired sigh. The last round of drugs was still in his system and keeping him lethargic.

"Look - if you have to give me the injection so you don't get hurt yourself, I can understand that. But I'm not going to just swallow pills and assist in my own slaughter."

Wincing at the blonde man's choice of words, Angel stuffed the pills back into her pocket before starting to help him drink the soup again. He didn't have to know much about body language to see how conflicted she was, so Hutch waited until the soup was nearly gone before he spoke again. Softly, so that his voice wouldn't travel far.

"Listen, Angel? I know you can't do anything for me. That doesn't matter. But please? Get a message to Starsky. Tell him - tell him I'm already dead. The guys screwed up, panicked, whatever. Just don't leave him with a reason to come after me anymore."

Her head immediately snapped around to look back at the door as if afraid the others might have heard him. Then she looked back at him again.

"You're serious, aren't you? Why? Why would you want to do that?"

"I heard them. You have a child. If you love your kid, you know why."

Huggy let out a soft sigh, then gave Hutch a small smile as his good hand ruffled the blond hair gently.

"If you do leave a message for Starsk, you need to put me down as recently deceased as well. He's bound to already know I was shot, but not how bad. Defeat the whole purpose if he came here after me."

The door unlocked again and Angel felt her chest tighten as if she couldn't breath. Then Carl's voice called out.

"Get the meds in him or need a hand with that?"

She drew a shaky breath, then looked back to the two men watching her.

"It's too soon. I checked his eyes. It's still too soon for his next dose. I did warn you that it might take up to twelve hours."

"Fine - you can give it to him in the morning."

Carl's harsh bark of laughter accompanied Angel to the door.

"Not like he's going anywhere."


	12. Meeting Starsky

Angel was in a turmoil emotionally as she left the warehouse district. What the men had asked her to do had sounded in the lines of a last request. They really did believe they were going to die and she hadn't seen or heard anything to make her think they weren't right. That one that kept calling her little sister was right - she was too smart not to know better. She hadn't wanted to know.

She wanted to see her daughter so badly. The words of the blond detective still had her more than a little upset. 'If' she loved her child. Of course she loved her child! She would -

There was a sharp intake of breath as it suddenly clicked for Angel. The man hadn't been insulting her. He'd been trying to explain why like she'd asked him. Why would he give up his life for his friend? It was the same reason Angel would have given hers for her daughter. Love. She suddenly found herself wondering what this man Starsky was like.

She argued back and forth with herself for at least an hour before she found herself at a payphone. The word Hutchinson had used kept coming back to her and making her sick. Slaughter. But that's what it would be, wouldn't it? He was handcuffed, drugged - what chance did he have to stop them from doing whatever they pleased? The scale tipped in her mind. Hand shaking, she picked up the handset and dialed the number to Metro.

"I need to speak with Detective David Starsky. It's very urgent."

At his desk, Starsky had both of his hands in his hair, frustration visible in every crease on his face. Not a single viable lead. Who the hell were these jokers? If only Tabby hadn't grabbed the envelope, they might have been able to get a clear fingerprint and have some idea who they were dealing with and where to find them.

He could feel someone watching him and looked up to see Captain Dobey standing there, holding yet another cup of coffee.

"Starsky, you're exhausted. At least go to the lounge and stretch out for an hour or two. I'll wake you if -"

The phone ringing interrupted the captain as Starsky practically dove for it.

"Starsky."

"Is this David Starsky?"

The voice he was hearing was feminine and hesitant. Almost timid.

"It is. Can I help you?"

"I - I have news about your best friend."

The way she phrased it made his breath catch in his throat. Not Hutchinson. Not partner. Best Friend.

"What can you tell me?"

"Oh, I couldn't. Not over the phone. Could we meet?"

The possibility that this could be another trap ran through his head.

"Why can't you tell me about Hutch over the phone?"

Starsky now had Dobey's full attention as the captain leaned on the desk wishing he could hear both sides of the conversation.

"It isn't... I couldn't -"

Afraid she was about to panic and hang up, Starsky broke in.

"Fine, fine. I'll meet you. Where?"

"I don't know. I shouldn't have called."

"No! Please don't hang up! Uhmmm - there's a place. Sadie's Kitchen. Open all night diner. Do you know it?"

"Ye-yes. I'll be there in half an hour."

Then the phone went dead as she hung up. Dobey reached out to take hold of Starsky's shoulder.

"Was that one of the kidnappers?"

Firmly shaking his head, Starsky hung the phone back up.

"No way. It was a woman for one thing and she sounded like an absolute nervous wreck. And wanting to meet me but not having a place in mind? That doesn't sound like them at all. When they were on the phone with me, they practically tried to dictate my every move."

"We don't have much time. Let's go."

"Cap -"

"Don't even start. There is no way in Hell you are going by yourself. Back sass me on this and you'll stay here to man the phones while I go meet her with another detective."

Starsky just held up his hands to signal that he wasn't going to argue. There wasn't time for one thing. As jittery as the woman was, she might not wait for very long.

When he and Dobey arrived, Starsky didn't even have to guess who it was they were going to be meeting. There was a dark-toned beauty in the very back slowly shredding one paper napkin at a time. He moved right toward the booth with Captain Dobey hanging just a little back.

"Hi. I think you're the one I'm supposed to be meeting. I'm David Starsky."

When she lifted her head and looked him in the eyes, it was easy to tell that she'd been crying, but she quietly gestured to the bench seat across from her. Dobey considered then took a seat in a neighboring booth.

"Now, you said you had something to tell me?"

Her lips trembled a bit, but she took a deep breath to steady herself before speaking.

"Detective Hutchinson asked me - practically begged me - to speak to you. And to let you know - he's dead."


	13. Explanations

At Angel's words, all of the blood seemed to drain from Starsky's face. He couldn't speak at all at first. This wasn't making sense to him. Finally, he managed to force one word out.

"How?"

Angel's eyes had flickered up enough to notice his pallor, but she avoided his eyes. After a moment's thought, she decided to stick to the truth. Partial truth. Carl likely would have killed Hutchinson if Mike hadn't made him put his gun away. Actually, no likely to it. Carl had all the restraint of a three year old throwing a tantrum. The blond would never have left the alley alive if Carl had had his way.

"The building across from the restaurant. A man was in there with phone and a gun. I think he actually expected you to take the call."

Starsky winced. Hutch had jumped up to get away from Tabby. That was another one he owed her.

"He was told they'd kill you if he didn't cooperate and do what they told him to. They - you really don't want to hear this."

"Maybe not. But I have to."

She swallowed a lump in her throat again. The man's voice was barely over a whisper.

"They used his handcuffs on him. Wrapped over his eyes with gauze and taped over his mouth. Then - well, one of them made the mistake of forgetting he could still hear. They said that they were going to be going after you any way and using him as a lure to trap you. I'm not sure how he managed it, but your friend managed to get up and attack. Nailed the one that was threatening you in the gut with his shoulder. But that just made the guy mad -"

Angel couldn't go on for a minute, but it was obvious that Starsky wasn't going to make a sound, so she took a sip of the water in front of her before continuing in a near whisper herself.

"Your friend couldn't defend himself and he was outnumbered. I'm sorry."

Left hand rubbing his forehead, Starsky tried to process it all. It did sound very much how Hutch would react to protect him - and how he would have reacted himself if it was Hutch being threatened. Still, something wasn't quite adding up for him. Somehow he'd always thought that he'd know if Hutch were gone. That might not have made much sense to anyone else, but the two of them had always been so much on the same wavelength that he would have sworn that he should have known when Hutch died. He had trouble finding the voice to get his next question out.

"What about Huggy?"

"I'm sorry - who?"

"Huggy Bear. About the same height as Hutch. Lanky, black guy."

"Oh. I never heard his name - just heard him called the Bear. He - was shot. He didn't make -"

At the strangled sound of grief coming from the man across from her, Angel finally looked fully at him. His misery was so plainly obvious that her thoughts went to her daughter. How she'd be feeling herself if someone she didn't even know was telling her that her daughter was dead - gone forever without even the chance to say goodbye. Starting to sob softly, she shook her head.

"I can't do this. Damn him. Damn him! He knew I wouldn't be able to do this."

"Who?"

The new unexpected voice made her jump. Captain Dobey had moved to Starsky's side, laying his hand on the detective's shoulder as he studied the woman.

"Hutchinson."

Starsky's head snapped up at that.

"Wait - what?"

"He's alive?"

She nodded miserably as Dobey's question.

"They both are. At least, they both were a couple of hours ago. Detective Hutchinson said he knew I couldn't do anything to help him, but he wanted me to keep you away from there. He and the Bear both said to tell you they were dead so that you wouldn't have a reason to come after them."

"Wait. Back up. Why couldn't you help him? How the hell did you get mixed up in all of this anyway?"

"It's complicated,  but I'll give you the Cliff Notes version. I'm a nurse - a single mother with a daughter and, unfortunately, an idiot for a brother. Said idiot of a brother owes money to the men that have your friend.  Without asking or warning me, he offered me to them as a partial payback on his debts.  Carl and Mike are equally aware that my brother's an idiot and they decided they couldn't trust me to be willing to work for them to cover his debts. They took my baby, but I don't know where she's at and they told me that I don't get to see her again until they get their money from Stryker."

Angel felt two sets of eyes staring at her as Dobey and Starsky repeated the name in shocked unison.

"Stryker!"


	14. Chapter 14

Starsky found himself pacing again, then he suddenly turned toward Dobey.

"Hang on. Stryker's still in prison right, Captain?"

Nodding, Captain Dobey frowned.

"Sure is. Going to be in for quite awhile longer too. Ma'am, are you sure that's the name they used?"

"Positive. They told me he's a big wheel in the drug circles. They talked about him being a guest in a resort. He's in jail?"

Nodding to the woman, Dobey's frown got even deeper. The topic of Stryker was a sensitive one for the captain as the drug lord had been responsible for the death of his own partner, Elmo Jackson. Dobey and Jackson had been a team back in their day much as Starsky and Hutch were now.

Angel sighed, lowering her head into her hands. The thought of someone arranging things like this from a prison cell was disturbing. Captain Dobey and Starsky weren't too happy about it either, but right now, they had more urgent priorities. Angel drew them out of their thoughts when she spoke again after trying to compose herself.

"I have to be back in the morning before six. They're expecting me to keep Hutchinson drugged for them so that they don't have to worry about him fighting them."

That added another item that he didn't care for to the list of things that were getting on Starsky's nerves.

"And what would happen if you weren't there for that?"

"Carl is not known for his patience or his intelligence. He would probably try to administer the drugs himself. And there would be a very good chance that he would go with his usual 'more is better' philosophy and overdose Hutchinson. The drugs can suppress breathing and, depending on the amount of that overdose, he could possibly kill your friend. Carl would have killed him already if Mike hadn't stopped him. Everything I said before was truthful except I didn't say that Mike stopped Carl before he shot your friend."

That led Starsky to another question. Another of those things he needed to know but didn't necessarily want to know.

"When they called me at Huggy's to order me to find their instructions, I heard Hutch yell. What happened?  What did they do to him?"

Angel looked away and her expression had more than a little disgust to it.

"That was Carl. He put an ice pick all the way through Hutchinson's hand. I cleaned and bandaged it when I was allowed as best as I could, but both he and the Bear refused to take the antibiotics I offered them. Not that I can blame them for not trusting me when Mike's been making me give Detective Hutchinson injections."

She gave a glance to the window as Captain Dobey went out to his car and returned with a map of Bay City. While Dobey didn't care for the thought of the woman going back into the building where Hutchinson and Huggy were, he didn't see any way around it even though he was concerned about how easily things could go bad. If this Carl and Mike got wind of what was about to happen, they might kill both men and run. He didn't want it to pop into their minds that five thousand dollars would be better than none.

"We need to know where to go. And some details about where the guys are being kept."

Looking down at the map, Angel drew a deep breath. It took her a moment to orient herself and she allowed a finger to trace along the road once she located it.

"I guess I've waded out too deep to turn back now. Here. The building is right about here. The room your men are in is an interior one. No windows, but there is a small room with a sink and toilet in it."

Starsky leaned over to get a view of the map.

"The main room they're in, does the door open out or in?"

"In. Carl would let me go inside then pull the door back shut behind me to lock it.  I had to knock to get him to let me out again."

"That's good - we can give you something small that you can hide in a pocket to use to jam the door. Do you think you could manage to barricade yourself in there with them while we take care to Carl and Mike?"

"Yes. I'm sure I could. I don't think I could live with myself if either of them died and I might have been able to prevent it. But -"

"We'll find your daughter, I swear. Once we have Carl and Mike, at least one of them will be looking to try and cut a deal."

The planning went quickly from there. The fact that Stryker had outside contacts still actively doing his dirty work, as well as the fact that at least one person in the Criminal Justice system was either aiding him or turning a blind eye, meant that they would need to be extra cautious. Captain Dobey would be going with Starsky along with two of the uniformed officers he knew he could trust. Dobey left long enough to pay a personal visit to a judge he'd known for years - one that had also been involved in the Elmo Jackson case. With a signed statement from Angel, Dobey didn't have any problems getting a warrant from the judge to search the building where Hutch and Huggy were being held.

At five thirty, the four policemen arrived near the building with Angel. Starsky had already given her the pair of wedges to use to jam the door after demonstrating to her how to use them for best effect.

"Be careful - and don't open the door for any reason until you hear either me or the Captain give you the all-clear. Oh - and get yourself and the guys as far away from the door as possible. Just in case."

Angel nodded her understanding, took some deep breaths to steady her nerves, then got back into her own car and drove the remaining block to the building.


	15. Escape Attempt

Hutch and Huggy had spent was could be at best called a restless night. Between  blood loss plus the gunshot wound in his arm on Huggy's side and the combination of drugs, manhandling and throbbing hand on Hutch's, they were both feeling pretty spent. Huggy had finally taken one end of the cot, resting with his back to the wall. He had managed to help Hutch get his head situated on his lap with some difficulty, but it had helped even though Hutch really wished he could get out of the cuffs. His left hand had swollen and now the cuff on that wrist was painfully tight.

Neither man had any idea how long they'd been in there, but it probably hadn't been anywhere near as long as it felt like. The silence was deep but not uncomfortable between the pair, though Hutch finally sighed and spoke.

"Sorry you got stuck in the middle of all this, Hug."

"I didn't get stuck, Blondie. I volunteered, so you can go get your money back if you paid cash up front for a ticket to this guilt trip. Didn't think about them being dumb enough to break into a cop's home. My bad considering the type of money we were talking about. Money justifies a whole lot of things to some folks."

"I never could wrap my head around that. I can understand doing things because of a person. After what happened to me, I can even understand what drugs and stuff like that will cause someone to do. But these guys didn't seem strung out and they sure aren't starving, so doing stuff like this just to put cash in their pocket? No sense."

"That, my twin? That is why you and the Bear are on one side of the line and those guys are on the other. Some folks never even entertain the notion that some things just might be worth more than money."

Almost as if on cue, the door opened and Carl came in, narrowing his eyes at the pair before moving over to grab hold of Huggy's good arm to jerk him up, effectively dropping Hutch to the floor in the process. When his swollen hand hit the floor hard, it was all Hutch could do to bite back a yell. He tried to ignore that though. He didn't know what the guy intended to do with Huggy, but Hutch thought it was pretty safe to assume it wasn't anything good. The effects from the earlier dose of drugs had worn off and Hutch could see where the man was this time as he managed to get his feet under him enough to shoulder tackle Carl in the lower back. Carl hadn't been expecting any trouble from Hutch, so the move caught him totally off-guard and affected him more than it might have otherwise.

Stumbling some himself as Carl's hand was jerked away from his arm, Huggy saw Mike starting to enter and tried hitting the door to knock the man back. With only one working arm though, he didn't have the necessary strength against the larger man and ended up getting knocked down himself as he yelled out a warning to Hutch.

Knowing Mike was coming didn't help Hutch a bit, unfortunately. He was still tangled up with Carl enough that he couldn't evade the first blow to his head or the one that followed it. He was, at best, semi-conscious when a familiar voice came from the doorway.

"Oh my God! Mike! Stop it before you kill him!"

Mike growled and dropped the handful of Hutchinson's shirt he'd grabbed after striking him.

"About damn time you got here, Angel. As you can see, the drugs wore off."

Moving over to help a still-dazed Carl up, Mike continued speaking.

"Drug them both. No light stuff this time. Getting Starsky is taking too long and we're moving on."


	16. The Cavalry Arrives

Angel steadied herself as she looked over the scene. Or at least tried to. Her voice was still very unsteady when she spoke again.

"Take Carl into the other room and sit him down. He might have a mild concussion. I'll be in to check him after I take care of these two."

She waited until Mike had gotten Carl out of the area then shut the door behind him. Her hands were trembling as she pulled out the wedges and used them at both the top and bottom to jam the door. Huggy's arm was bleeding again, but he wasn't paying attention to that as he watched what Angel was doing.

"Where did you get those, little sister?"

"From your friend, Starsky."

"Aw damn - please tell me Starsky's not on his way here by himself."

"No - Captain Dobey and two others are with him. They said for us to get as far away from the door as we could and -"

A rattling at the door made Angel catch her breath.

"What the hell is this? Angel! Get your ass over here and open this door!"

Laying his right hand on Angel's shoulder, Huggy managed to get the panicking woman to look at him.

"Don't freeze on us now - are they on their way?"

She nodded, then gave a short scream as she heard a kick land on the door that was accompanied by the sharp sound of splintering wood.

Hutch's voice was hoarse, but he was able to get their attention.

"Drag the cot over next to that little side room and flip it on its side in front of it. Then both of you get as far back into that room as you can."

"Hutch -"

"Don't start, Hug - no time. I'm still worth money to them. If you two are out of sight and he comes in panicked or pissed, he might at least hesitate to kill me."

The next kick and louder splinter sound spurred them into action. The cot was swiftly moved and flipped. Hutch breathed a little easier as Huggy and Angel ducked out of sight just before one last kick caved in the center of the door.

As he saw that the one entering was Carl, Hutch knew that his string of bad luck was continuing on an unbroken streak. On the plus side, Carl didn't even seem to be noticing Angel and Huggy weren't in plain sight. On the definitely negative side, the man's gaze was firmly fixed on Hutch and Carl had a gun in hand. Adding to the negative was the fact that Hutch didn't think he had enough energy left for anything even vaguely resembling an evasive maneuver. Carl stalked over until he was standing over the blond detective, giving him a kick before aiming his gun at Hutch's head.

"Damn cop. My head hurts, but that was the last time you'll ever -"

"Freeze! Lower your weapon!"

Starsky's voice was hard and cold. A sensible man would have paid heed, but Hutch had seen enough of Carl in action to know the word sensible didn't apply to him. His brain was full of dollar signs and no sense. As if he'd totally forgotten about the man at his feet, Carl turned to shoot Starsky. Hutch thrust out with his feet to try and foul Carl's aim at almost the same instant both guns went off. Carl's bullet went wide - Starsky's didn't.

"Captain! We're going to need an ambulance. Maybe more than one."

Making sure that Carl's fallen gun was far from the man's reach, Starsky paused just long enough to see if the man had any other weapons. Once verifying there weren't any others, Starsky proceeded to ignore the man and went over to his battered looking partner's side.

"Hey, pal."

Then he glanced around the room, eyes stopping when he saw the overturned cot.

"Huggy? Angel?"

"We're both here, Starsk."

Huggy got up, leaning heavily against the doorframe as Angel slowly got to her feet as well.

"Hey, partner duty is officially turned back over to Blondie. You guys attract way too many negative vibes for the Bear. Especially bad vibes in bullet form."

Starsky just shook his head as he reached into his pocket for the spare key to Hutch's cuffs.

"It could work out for you, Hug. Some ladies are impressed by scars. Hey, you okay, Angel?"

"I'm fine. Shaky, but fine."

Starsky moved Hutch onto his side so that he could get the cuffs unlocked. He didn't like the way Hutch's hands were swollen and discolored, especially the left one. A voice came from just outside of the door.

"What's the situation in there, Starsky?

"Clear in here, Captain. The perp, Huggy and Hutch all could us a doctor sooner than later."

"We're clear out here as well, Starsky. Ambulance is on the way. Angel?  Mike gave us a location - I've already got a squad on the way to pick up your daughter."

Giving a soft sob of relief, Angel closed her eyes. Huggy sagged and looked to the larger man as he made his way past the broken door.

"Not to be a mood killer, but do you have a plan, Captain Dobey?"

"A plan regarding?"

"Our boys here. Long as whoever it is still has a cash bounty out for two pairs of blue eyes, Starsky and Hutch might as well try living in a shooting gallery."

"I've got a few irons in the fire on that. But first priority is getting you and Hutchinson to a hospital."


	17. Hospital Trouble

As soon as Angel's daughter had been picked up, Dobey made immediate arrangements to send the two of them as far away from the Bay City area as he could manage with his contacts from other departments.

Meanwhile, Hutch and Huggy were under police guard at the hospital – one of those guards being Starsky. Whatever preference the hospital might have had, Starsky insisted that the two of them be in the same room. Separating them would have made keeping an eye on them that much harder.

How worn out Hutch was could be judged by the lack of complaints he had regarding anything. No comments on the room, the light, the food – nothing. That alone had Starsky worried. Hutch was one of the pickiest men on Earth regarding food. Of course, just because he wasn't voicing a complaint didn't mean he was eating the stuff either. A nurse came in and looked over the untouched tray in front of Hutch and gave him some encouragement to at least try to eat as she put an injection into his IV.

On the other hand, Huggy wasn't shy about voicing his opinion of the hospital cuisine though he did wait for the nurse to exit first. He lifted the lid off of his meal, stared at the various shades of beige featured in the food and lowered the lid back down, giving Starsky a pitiful look.

"Don't we get time off for good behavior? Man, the dog that hangs out in my back alley would turn his nose up to this stuff."

"I know it's not what you'd call appetizing, Hug, but you need to try and get some of it down. You lost a fair amount of blood."

"I sure don't see how eating pureed cardboard's gonna help me with recovering from that, Starsk."

"Aw come on – it can't' be that bad."

Huggy just gave Starsky the eye and lifted the lid off of his meal, offering him the fork. Taking up the challenge, Starsky moved over and accepted the fork. Looking down at the plate, he had second thoughts, but finally scooped up some of the food and tasted it.

He now had the full attention of both Hutch and Huggy as he tried in vain not to make a face. Forcing himself to actually swallow took awhile though.

"Well?"

"Okay – so it can be that bad. Must be designed to make you want to get out of the hospital as quickly as possible."

"In that case? Mission accomplished, my brother."

A soft chuckle came from the other bed which made Starsky feel a little better, but Hutch was still being way too quiet.

"Alright, alright. I can take a hint. I'll see if I can smuggle in some real food for you guys. I'll get one of the other officers to watch the door."

"No."

Only one word from Hutch, but he put a lot of feeling behind it. That was all he said even though it seemed clear that he'd meant to say more following it. Apparently whatever the nurse had given him had made Hutch sleepy and he was out like a light. That struck Starsky as odd for some reason, but he couldn't quite pin down why.

After an exchange of shrugs with Huggy, Starsky called over one of the uniforms to keep an eye on the room while he went out for a few. He didn't go far. Just around the corner to grab a couple of burgers and a nice gloppy strawberry shake for himself.

All in all, he was pleased with the expedition except for the shake. While the shake itself was exactly like he liked them, the lid didn't quite fit the cup and so kept popping loose. Then when he was only a few hundred feet more from the hospital entrance, he heard someone come up behind him. The hospital was busy enough that he didn't think anything of it until the voice behind him spoke up.

"I have a weapon trained right at you. No sudden moves. Turn around slowly and don't try anything funny."

The detective didn't follow the last part of those instructions. As he turned, Starsky gave his cup a little squeeze that made the lid pop off again, then Starsky slung the frozen strawberry concoction into the man's face. That was followed by slamming the man into the wall to make him drop the gun in his hand. The uniforms stationed near the entrance saw what was going on and hurried over to put handcuffs on the man while Starsky hurried inside. It finally hit him was had been so weird in Hutch's room. A nurse who was trying to get a man to eat wouldn't be pumping a sedative into him at the same time.

Sure enough, there was a bit of chaos in there with doctors, nurses, two uniforms, Captain Dobey, and some unknown guy who was already in custody and wearing cuffs. Huggy was watching the unfolding scene with interest. In the other bed, Hutch was barely even registering the noise. Starsky spotted the nurse that administered the shot into Hutch's IV and a new round of yelling broke out.

After the man was dragged out of the room and the nurse apprehended and taken to Metro for questioning, Dobey turned his attention to Starsky.

"What part of you being as big a target as Hutch isn't registering, Starsky? That does it - you two are out of here as soon as we can get Hutchinson released."

As one of the nurses tried to get Dobey to lower his voice some, Hutch finally gave a drowsy look over the scene. looking entirely unconcerned. Huggy just shook his head. Whatever drugs that nurse, real or pretend, had slipped Hutch, they must have been pretty potent ones.

"What do you mean 'out of here'?"

"I mean out! Out of Bay City! Out of the state! You two just volunteered for an exchange program. No arguments! Until we get a lid on this whole bounty thing going on with Stryker, you two are a hazard to yourselves and everyone around you."

Starsky started to protest, but a very faint voice came from the bed. Hutch spoke very deliberately as if forming the words was hard to do.

"Cap's right, Starsk. Other folks are going to get hurt. Like Hug."

"Hey, don't drag the Bear into this debate. I didn't get caught in the crossfire - wasn't my brightest move maybe, but I was a volunteer."

"Angel wasn't. Her daughter wasn't."

For a moment, Hutch tried to raise his head, but gave up and flopped back on his pillow.

"Pal - I'm not happy either. But us being here takes too much attention right now."

Huggy chimed in.

"Listen to them both, Starsk. You guys being targets is taking the focus off the real issue here."

"Real issue?"

"Yeah - how Stryker is managing to screw up so many lives while he's supposedly doing hard time."

Sighing, Starsky went over and sat heavily down on the edge of Hutch's bed.

"Fine - combined assault. I surrender. So where are we getting shipped off to, Cap? New Jersey?"

"Not quite. More like Hawaii."


	18. Goodbye, Bay City -  Aloha, Hawaii

Captain Dobey had it arranged for Starsky to be at the hospital when Hutch was released. The two of them would go straight from there to the airport. Huggy was getting released at the same time and he looked amused as he shook his head at his two grumpy friends.

"Man, I do not understand the pair of you. To look at your faces, person would think that Dobey was sending you guys off to Siberia or to Alcatraz. You are going to a premiere vacation spot - one that most folks would fight over tickets to. Hawaii, the next best thing to paradise. Traveling on someone else's dime, no less. How could that possibly be a reason to mope?"

"Because it feels like we're running away from Stryker, that's why."

There was a flash of anger in Starsky's eyes as he said that – one that was mirrored in Hutch's. In both cases, the anger quickly shifted to frustration. Huggy reached over and took hold of Starsky's shoulder.

"Hey - you guys do know that Dobey's just looking out for your pasty-white butts, right?"

Hutch sighed and then nodded.

"Yeah. We know, Hug. We know. That's why we're going. Doesn't mean we have to like it."

Huggy had been stuck in the hospital room with Hutch long enough to know exactly how little Hutch wanted to leave even knowing it was for the best.  His free hand moved to Hutch's shoulder.

"I'll do what I can to keep you guys in the loop on what's happening. You have the Bear's word. Now cheer the hell up. Getting worked up over crap we can't change isn't going to do any good to any one, hear me? You're being sent somewhere nice. I know nice isn't in keeping with your usual lack of style, but you dudes have worked undercover.  You can adapt."

"Hey!"

Snickering at Starsky's reaction, Hutch loosened up some. And his amusement drew in Starsky, who finally broke into a grin. Huggy was quite pleased with that little coup.

"Come on, let me help you with your bags."

"Huggy's got a point, Starsk. Come on. If we miss our plane, Cap will skin us."

"Hey, you best make sure you packed plenty of sun block, my color impaired duo. I'm not going to be seen hanging with a pair of peeling lobsters when you come home.  The Bear has a reputation to maintain."

"How do you know we won't come back with a tan?"

"Take a good look around.  We live in sunny California, Starsk. If you guys were going to tan instead of glow in the dark, I would think you'd have managed it by now."

Chuckling, Hutch tossed a duffel over to Starsky to get his attention.

"We aren't going to win this argument, partner. Let's get going, It's going to be a really long flight."

"Don't remind me."

The pair headed out to the waiting car. Huggy was a little surprised that they were taking Hutch's beat up Ford and not Starsky's beloved Torino. Starsky saw Huggy's look and correctly read it,

"Much as it mortifies my soul to be seen in this rolling junk heap, no way am I leaving my baby in long-term airport parking. If this piece of scrap metal gets banged up while it's there, who'll be able to tell the difference?"

That earned him a scowl from Hutch as he gave his battered car a fond pat.

"Climb in or walk, pal."

"Way this thing runs, we'll likely be walking before we get there any way."

Regardless, Starsky climbed into the passenger seat, giving Huggy a wave. Huggy waved back, shaking his head in amusement.

"Watch your backs, mis amigos. The Bear's got the home front covered."

The drive to the airport went without incident despite Starsky's prediction of a car breakdown. The flight itself was uneventful as well despite the length. Hutch passed the hours by napping or working in a book of puzzles he'd picked up at one of the airport gift shops. Starsky divided his time between listening to the headphones and flirting with their section's stewardess. Even so, it seemed forever before the plane finally landed.

They hadn't been off the plane for long when a man came over, offering Starsky a hand.

"Welcome to Hawaii. I was sent to meet you and your partner, Detective Hutchinson."

Starsky just smirked.  Some things never changed.

"He's Hutchinson - I'm Starsky."

The man frowned, pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket. It was a fax sheet with two pictures - one of each man and incorrectly labeled. Hutch leaned closer to look at the sheet and groaned.

"Starsk, I swear that sometimes I think they do things like this to us on purpose."

Offering his hand to the man, Hutch just shrugged in resignation.

"Why they keep mixing up our names is beyond me. Ken Hutchinson - I generally go by Hutch. This is my partner, David Starsky."

"Just call me Starsky."

"Danny Williams. Danny's fine. So - you guys really go by your last names?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Except with our moms."

"I'll apologize in advance. Your pictures already made the rounds with the team, so the name mix-up might take a few minutes to clear up."

"Nothing new."

"Unfortunately."

Listening to the pair completing each others' sentences, Danny gave his head a bemused shake as he made a motion toward the exit.

"Come on. I'll take you to meet the rest of the team. By the way, we appreciate you guys volunteering for this assignment."

Starsky chuckled.

"We didn't exactly volunteer."

Hutch continued the explanation.

"More like our Captain 'volunteered' us. He wanted us out of the state. Got to admit that he did a thorough job of that."

The way Danny suddenly stopped and then turned to look at the two of them again with slightly narrowed eyes got their attention fast.

"Wait, you didn't volunteer? You guys have worked undercover before, right?"

Starsky nodded vigorously.

"Sure. That's what we do."

"So - your captain did tell you what this assignment involved . . . right?"

Starsky and Hutch exchanged uneasy glances. This wasn't sounding good.

"Not a word. How bad a situation are we talking about that we've walked into?"

Sucking in a breath, Danny made a quick decision. Let Steve handle this. He turned and started to walk again.

"Let's wait on this until we're with the rest of the team. That way you can get all of the details at once."

As they followed in Danny's wake, Starsky leaned in a little closer to Hutch, keeping his voice low.

"Hutch? What do you think?"

"I think we might want to be throttling Captain Dobey in the very near future - that's what I think."

"Yeah. I got that feeling too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes - Danny Williams as in Hawaii Five-O's Danno. The Five-O team (Original series) will be in this section of the story.


	19. Meeting with Five-0

Luggage loaded into the trunk, Danny was slightly surprised that neither man got into the passenger seat, seeming to prefer to share the back seat together. On the drive to headquarters, Danny kept up a tourist guide patter pointing out places of interest while trying to get a read on Starsky and Hutch. The longer he was with the pair and interacting with them, the more he was getting the distinct feeling that there had been a huge mistake. He wondered if their Captain possibly had it in for this pair or if he had even read any of the assignment details. Of course, it was also possible that the Captain's superiors hadn't passed over all of the pertinent details. He decided at around the half-way point of the drive to test the waters.

"So guys – mind a question?"

Hutch shrugged.

"Depends on the question."

That got a chuckle from Danny.

"Fair enough. You said that your Captain wanted you out of state. He mad at you over something?"

Starsky put in his two cents.

"Mother Henning us is more like it. He's trying to protect us."

"Sounds like a long story."

Hutch couldn't help the sigh that escaped as he started to explain.

"Not so long as it is complicated, but I'll try and give you the short version. Starsky and I helped get a sleaze ball behind bars – he's a cop-killer and a drug lord. Even though he's in jail, he's managed to put out a bounty on us in the form of an open contract for whoever to collect the money. The big bucks are if they deliver the two of us alive, but he's also willing to pay for our corpses. It was going to take too much in manpower and resources from the department to try and keep an eye on the two of us not to mention our friends and associates. One friend of ours and two civilians have already gotten caught up in this mess. So? Captain wanted us as far away from the trigger-happy types eager to collect the bounty and so, here we are."

"You said this guy is a cop-killer?"

Starsky jumped in to answer that question.

"That's another stake our Cap has in this. The cop that was murdered was an officer named Elmo Jackson, his partner back from Cap's days on the streets. Some of the older guys on the force that knew them both in the day say that me and Hutch remind them of lot of how tight Dobey and Jackson were."

Bad feeling confirmed. Danny managed to stifle a groan, but he could tell that the pair had picked up on something by the way they were exchanging glances. They also seemed to be speaking in some sort of body language morse code. That actually amused him. Sometimes he'd wondered if he and Steve were the only two guys who did that sort of thing.

Breaking away from his thoughts, Danny pulled into the parking lot.

"Well, here we are. May as well just leave your bags in the trunk for now."

"Sounds good. I hate lugging that stuff around."

"That's because you pack half of everything you own, Starsk."

Despite the quip, Hutch paled and had to pause after he got out of the car. It was only for a second, but it was long enough to get Starsky rushing to his side, scolding.

"You stood up too fast again, didn't you? You haven't been able to move much - slow it down."

"I know, I know. Don't hover, Starsk - I'm fine.  Really, pal. I just need some time on a gym mat to stretch everything out again after being folded into that airline seat."

Seeing Danny's concerned look, Hutch gave him a slightly sheepish smile.

"In case it ever comes up for you, I really wouldn't recommend going straight from bed rest to a long plane trip."

"Exactly what were you in the hospital for?"

"He had the snot beaten out of him."

"Gee thanks, Starsk. You make it sound like I was a kid that got jumped on by the playground bullies."

"What happened?"

"Incident of someone trying to collect on that bounty. Another long story."

"That one will have to wait. Come on inside and I'll introduce you."

As Danny held the door open for them to enter, the two men behind desks looked up at them appraisingly.  Danny smiled and used his free hand to gesture toward the two detectives.

"These are our California imports - Kenneth Hutchinson and David Starsky. Ignore the fax that we were sent - somebody mislabeled the photos. Hutchinson's the blond. Starsky and Hutch? This is Chin Ho Kelly and Kono Kalakaua."

Danny narrowed his eyes and glanced around as the four men exchanged handshakes. The bandage on Hutch's left hand caught his eye, but he didn't remark on it yet, instead looking to Chin.

"Where's Steve?"

Chin sat back down after indicating some chairs for their visitors to sit in.

"Steve's taking a call in his office. He should be back shortly."

Starsky dropped into one of the armchairs with Hutch ignoring the other available chairs to perch on the arm of the one Starsky had settled in. Kono nodded while watching them.

"So? How long have you guys been together?"

"Since we met at the Police Academy. We've been partners for quite awhile now."

It dawned on Danny that the question that Kono asked was not the one that Starsky answered. Steve there or not, Danny figured that he needed to get this straightened out before things went any further.

"Chin? Kono? I'm pretty sure these guys aren't as together as we thought they were going to be."

Danny found two pair of brown eyes and two pair of blue ones studying him intently. Starsky was apparently the first one to translate the meaning.

"Oh **hell** no!"

Scowling, Danny noted that Steve, of course, picked exactly that time to walk out of his office and join them.

"I'm going to take a wild guess that someone just informed the two of you what this assignment involved. Gentlemen - I'm Steve McGarrett, head of the 5-0 unit."

As he offered out his hand, it was Hutch who rose to take it, looking puzzled.

"Actually, we haven't been told much of anything yet."

He looked back to Starsky for an explanation.

"They don't think we're partners, Hutch. They think we're ' _partners_ '."

As that clicked into place for Hutch, he reddened a good bit.

"I just got off the phone with your Captain. He's more than a little upset himself. Apparently he wasn't made aware of the details of this assignment until you were already on your way here. Captain Dobey sends his apologies, but due to circumstances beyond his control, you're stuck with the job."

Still a bit flushed, Hutch nodded.

"Wild guess - you made a request for partners in the living together sense?"

"You hit that nail on the head, Detective Starsky."

"They also screwed up our photos, sir. He's Starsky - I'm Hutchinson."

McGarrett paused and nodded, taking in that information before continuing.

"Your Captain spoke highly of both of you. And he seems to be of the opinion that you can still pull off this undercover assignment for us."

Starsky had calmed down himself by now and just sighed as Hutch settled back down on the arm of his chair.

"Can't tell you how much we can or can't handle until we know something about what it is we're supposed to be doing. Could we get some details - any details - please?"

A glance from McGarrett to Danny had him taking over the briefing.

"So far, we have four dead men. Two couples, plus we have four other couples currently missing. All of them tourists who traveled here without any other friends or family accompanying them."

"You think that you've got someone targeting male gay couples?"

"Seems like and at the rate of one couple a month. It's taken us this long to put things together because of the time it took for anyone from the mainland to realize something was wrong and to report them missing. Things we've found in common so far? All were from the mainland U.S., all the men are white males or could be mistaken as white. All in their thirties. All five foot ten or taller."

Starsky smirked at the speculative look McGarrett threw his direction.

"I'm five eleven. And Hutch and me are firmly in our thirties. We meet the basics, but I'm not really sure how we'd need to act for this."

Kono looked at the pair, who were still sharing one chair, and shrugged.

"From what I can see, just keep doing what you're doing."


	20. Brainstorming

If the goal of the partners was to show that they weren't **that** close, the near identical glares they sent in Kono's direction likely didn't help their argument much.

"What did you mean by that crack?"

Hutch gave Starsky's shoulder a pat to try and help soothe his partner's ruffled feathers. Kono held his hands up in apologetic surrender.

"Wasn't looking to insult you guys. Just pointing out that you already fit the profile of our victims is all. I've talked to some of the relatives of the missing guys. At least half of them deny that there was anything sexual going on between their guy and the guy that was with them. Said that they were simply really close friends – in at least one case, they'd been in Vietnam together.  As a matter of fact, there was only one actual confirmed couple out of the six couples we have missing."

"So – the guys may or may not have been romantically involved, but the perp, whoever they are, maybe thinks that they were involved?"

Steve nodded at Starsky's assessment as he offered a folder over to Hutch.

"Sums it up. These are the photos we've had supplied from the families on the men. All are fairly good looking. Chin? You find anything else?"

"Statements from the places the guys were staying. None of our victims were seen chatting up any ladies – or really, talking with anyone other than the other guy they were traveling with. Which one of the ladies we interviewed noted was 'a real waste'. We've got three different hotels that the men stayed at – all of them were sharing rooms and the hotels were all here on Oahu. Waikiki Beach, to be exact."

Something seemed to strike Chin as he was speaking and he began flipping back through his notes.

"Spot something, sir?"

"Chin, Detective Hutchinson. And I think so. Give me a second."

"Hutch."

Passing the photos over to Starsky, Hutch watched as Chin nodded to himself before speaking.

"Don't know about two of our couples, but four of them attended one of the luaus at the Polynesian Cultural Center. And the ones we know of disappeared within two days of attending."

Hutch watched Starsky examining the photos.  Well, at least he'd always wondered what a luau would be like.

"So, I guess that means we need to plan on attending the luau as well as do whatever the usual tourist routine is here. Are you going to be having us stay at one of the hotels already hit?"

"Yes. By the way, you guys will be covered under our expense account here since you're on loan to us."

"Cap will be thrilled. Hey, any idea of how these guys were taken or where from?"

"Nothing yet."

Randomly flipping through the photos, Starsky commented out loud.

"Black hair, red hair, brunettes, but mostly blondes."

"Who says we have all the fun?"

Starsky didn't react to Hutch's attempt at humor. His face had a slight frown as he looked back at the photos of the four dead men. Two blondes, two brunettes. Turning over the photos, he matched each man to his counterpart and the frown got deeper.

Noting his partner's expression, Hutch looked at what Starsky was doing and grabbed the folder with the still missing men.

"Let's pair these up as well."

Danny moved over and looked, then took the photos to the table in the pairs and laid them out.

"Steve, they might be on to something here. Every one of these pairs contains at least one blond."

Starsky glanced up at that.

"More than that. Not only a blond, but a blue-eyed blond."

"It's not like blond hair and blue eyes are a really that rare of a thing, Starsk. Could be a coincidence."

Danny frowned and reached for another folder – the autopsy reports.

"I – don't think it's a coincidence."

"What is it, Danno?"

"I remembered something I saw in the coroner's report. The two blondes that have turned up dead? Their hair was bleached."

Starsky suddenly liked this assignment less all of the time. He noticed that all of the members of McGarrett's team had given a quick glance to his decidedly Nordic looking partner and knew that the same thought had flashed through their minds that had hit his. If these people were looking for those specific characteristics? Hutch was prime bait. And currently oblivious to it, as was shown when he spoke up.

"If these guys really are after only blondes, then why haven't the other non-blondes turned up?"

Starsky answered that almost immediately – his voice flat.

"Leverage."

Everyone's focus was on Starsky now as McGarrett nodded.

"I think I'm thinking along the same line that you are, but fill us in on what's running through your mind."

Starsky got to his feet and started to pace. Movement always helped when he was organizing his thoughts.

"Okay. These men being kidnapped are being both taken and disposed of in pairs. The two blondes didn't make the cut on closer examination – they weren't needed any more and so neither were their counterparts. The way I'm seeing it, it doesn't matter what these guys are to one another – comrades, partners, lovers, brothers, best friends. How they're connected doesn't matter. What matters is that they **are** connected."

Kono leaned forward a bit as he pondered that.

"But why would they be after that connection?"

"Way I see it? They need the blondes for something – what? No clue. But they need the blondes to do something they might balk at and these folks are using the other person to make them co-operate."

"Ah – ' _you do what I tell you and your friend here doesn't get hurt'_?

"Exactly."

That got a slow nod from everyone. Everyone, that is, except Hutch. His blue eyes were narrowing at the implications. But then he shook his head. Wasn't like undercover assignments weren't always risky.

"Well, whatever they're doing with their captives, they need to be put out of business permanently. When do we start?"

"Day after tomorrow. Today, we'll let you adjust to the island and discuss what we expect from the two of you on this assignment. Tomorrow, we'll be setting you up with your identities for the assignment and making the arrangements for where you'll be staying. Everything that might indicate to someone that either of you are cops will stay here with us. Any questions?"

Starsky moved back over to Hutch.

"No, sir. Well, not yet, at least.  Once we start getting down to the details, I'm sure we'll have a few."

"Kono? Go bring back some food for everyone. We've got a long day ahead of us yet."


	21. Ohana

It was when they took a break to gather around the table to eat that Danny finally decided to find out about the gauze wrapped around Hutch's hand.

"Hutch? That bandage on your left hand part of what you were in the hospital over?"

"Yep. And part of the reason we're here instead of back home."

With a little encouragement, Hutch told about the whole scenario with Mike and Carl's attempt to collect on the bounty that Stryker had put out on them. They also told about what Stryker had done to Captain Dobey's partner and how Elmo Jackson had been murdered, then was found hanging from a meat hook.

Kono frowned at that and shook his head.

"I can see why your Captain would want you away from that scene. This Stryker fellow sounds like total bad news. I don't know that this assignment is going be any better for your health though, hoaloha."

"How is that hand by the way? Can you use it?"

Hutch flexed it, considering.

"Still a bit stiff, Danny, but manageable."

McGarrett gave a grunt that Hutch assumed was approval.  McGarrett's next words proved his translation was right.

"Good. Well, let's get back to our plans while we finish eating."

Planning went fairly quickly. Due to the variety of places they'd need to go to, including the beach, there was not question that wires were out. Even if they stayed fully dressed (which would have looked highly suspicious for tourists), it had to be assumed that if the people got hold of them, they would be thoroughly examined. Anything like a wire would very likely equate to an immediate death sentence and they already knew that whoever they were up against played for keeps.

McGarrett took a skewer of shrimp with him as he moved to look over the map that Chin had spread out on his desk

"I'm afraid that this is going to be an old-fashioned stakeout where we keep track of you with someone in the area and someone else keeping watch from a longer distance with binoculars. Once you two assume your roles, we'll have to go with the assumption that you could be being watched by the kidnappers at any time. That means that once we take you to the airport, there can't be any direct contact between us. A slip at the wrong time could blow the whole assignment and put you at risk."

Starsky winced a little at the mention of the airport.

"We aren't going to have to make a flight all the way to California and back, are we?"

That got a chuckle from Steve.

"No, we wouldn't be that cruel. We've made arrangements to mix you in with an arriving flight, including having luggage waiting for you at the baggage claim. Hotel reservations have already been already made in your cover names, so you'll collect your bags and catch the airport shuttle to your hotel.  We'll make it look like you're on a package deal and have the luau tickets waiting for you at the hotel as well."

Chin slid over a manila envelope to each of the detectives.

"These are your new identities, hotel reservations and such. May as well try them on."

Hutch managed to get his open with relative ease and looked over the photo id, reading the name out loud.

"Kenneth Johansen."

Smirking at that, Starsky finally managed to get his own envelope open.

"David Levitch."

The exchanged look between them caused a short round of snickers.

"Levitch and Johansen. This ought to be interesting."

New identities confirmed, they shifted to using them exclusively for the rest of the day so that they would get used to answering to them. After a few bits of trial and error, they decided that calling each other Ken and Dave would work best even if it did sound odd.

"Not as odd as being called Levitch though."

They worked out other minor details until Steve got a look at the clock.

"Time to break this up. Speaking of which, empty out your wallets of anything that might have your names on it."

Hutch dug out his wallet and pulled out the various cards, putting them into an envelope Chin provided. Then he gave his wallet a frown when he was finished.

"I don't think I've had this little in my wallet since I was in high school."

"Yeah, mine's a little flat as well, partner. Well, I've heard some folks clean out their wallets before a vacation – we'll just pretend that's the kind of guys we are."

"We'd hate to lose our library cards at the beach, after all."

Chuckling at that, Starsky looked back to McGarrett.

"Have a spare cot or couch around here where me and Hutch can grab a few winks tonight?"

"Actually, I've got a spare room at my home where the two of you can camp out in tonight and we'll get you from there to the airport first thing in the morning."

"Sure that's not too much hassle?"

"No hassle at all. In fact, it will be quicker going from my place to the airport than coming from here."

Starsky got up and stretched his back out.

"Thanks, we appreciate the hospitality. And everything else you guys have done for us since we got here."

Kono got up and stretched a bit.

"I don't know how you guys run things on the mainland, but while you're assigned with us, you're ohana. One of us."


	22. Setting the Bait

It had been a very long day, but neither Starsky nor Hutch could get themselves to relax enough to actually get to sleep. Their surroundings didn't have anything to do with it. The room McGarrett had shown them to was a lot more comfortable than what they were expecting. Glancing at each other, they sighed in near perfect unison, deciding that trying to force sleep just wasn't going to cut it. Starsky got up and started to pace while Hutch draped himself in one of the chairs in the room.

"Well, we may as well talk. Maybe we'll bore ourselves to sleep."

"Hey, it's worked on stakeouts before."

"Funny guy. Aren't you feeling a little edgy here, Hutch?"

"A little I guess, Mom."

Pausing his pacing just long enough give Hutch a slight slap on the back of his head, Starsky growled a bit.

"Don't 'Mom' me, partner. If we put the photos of the blondes that got kept together, it almost looks like your family reunion."

"Only if they all start fighting. Or ignore each other completely."

"What do you think it is, with them taking guys with blond hair and blue eyes?"

"You mean beyond the obvious attractiveness factor?"

"I'm trying to be serious here, babe. I'm just not feeling good about this whole thing of you being dangled like a fish in front of a shark."

"We've done this sort of thing in assignments before, partner. Drawing out the baddies."

"You honestly think this is like those?"

"Alright. Not really. Usually, we at least have a clue what the bad guys are up to. If dead bodies hadn't turned up, I wonder if anyone would have even found out something screwy was going on?"

"We're even assuming a lot to assume that all the missing folks are still alive."

"Aren't we Little Miss Sunshine tonight?"

"I'm just worried about what might happen to you, dummy."

"I'm sort of worried about what might happen to you too, meathead."

"So what do we do about it?"

"Same as always. I watch your back, you watch mine. The hardest part is going to be relaxing and looking like the tourists we're supposed to be."

"While waiting for the shoe to drop."

"Exactly. Maybe we should have had Huggy give us relaxation lessons."

Snorting, Starsky made his way back over to one of the beds.

"There's a recording that would sell a million copies. The Bear teaches relaxation at the beach."

"I'd buy a copy."

Sitting down on the other bed, Hutch unwound the gauze from his hand and flexed it again. Starsky watched the whole procedure.

"At least you got the stitches out before we left. How's it feeling?"

"Like one big bruise. Think I can go without the gauze now. I'll probably want to keep it out of the salt water though."

Flexing the hand a final time before reaching over to turn off the lights, Hutch laid down and sighed. Glancing over at his restless partner, Starsky batted his eyes at him.

"Want me to sing you a lullaby?"

"Want me to smack you with my pillow?"

Snickering, Starsky punched his own pillow into submission and flopped. Once he started snoring, Hutch rolled over and went to sleep himself.

McGarrett woke them not long after dawn.

"I can only offer coffee and toast, but you'll be hitting your hotel early enough to grab a breakfast there which is what most of the other folks getting off the flight will be doing."

Both of them opted for just coffee. The pre-assignment nerves had kicked in and stolen their appetites. McGarrett gave them a few last minute instructions including having them memorize the team's direct line to call in case an emergency came up. They were also both given credit cards to go with their assumed names.

"Don't be afraid to use them to keep up the tourist appearance, but don't go crazy with them either. I have to explain the charges eventually."

Starsky grinned as he tucked his card inside his wallet.

"Right. We'll be good."

"Don't forget – I've talked to your Captain."

That got a laugh as they reached their destination. Then there was the slightly awkward moment of parting. Steve finally just gave them each a clap on the shoulder.

"Watch yourselves out there. Think tourist and relaxation – leave the police worries to us for now. And yes, I know. Easy for me to say, but blending in with the other tourists is your priority now."

The rest of the day went as scheduled. They merged in with the early morning arrivals, grabbed their bags from the luggage claim and caught the shuttle bus to their hotel. They used the excitement of the other first time visitors that were also on the shuttle to gauge what their own reactions should be and didn't stand out from the others by the time they were getting off the bus, discussing what they wanted to do first.

They decided to dump their things in their room, which turned out to be a very nice one with two full sized beds and a decent view of Waikiki Beach. As Starsky moved out onto their little balcony, Hutch looked over the brochures and tickets they'd been given by the front desk.

"Our luau is tomorrow. Sounds like that ought to be fun. They included a brochure on it if you want to look at it."

"Later. Let's grab a late breakfast and then hit the beach."

They had read the interviews with the people who'd seen the missing men at their hotels, so they had an idea how to act. They were friendly to anyone that spoke to them, but didn't go out of their way to speak to anyone else. They also didn't go anywhere without one another. Which meant, to both of their regret, that any woman approaching either of them had to be fended off politely.

The luau the next day was spectacular, though longer than they had imagined it would have been. One of the featured dances was the fire dance that didn't start until after dark, so by the time they got back to their hotel, they were exhausted, pretty much simply falling into their beds and passing out.

On the other end of the assignment, the Five-O team had their hands full trying to keep tabs on the two detectives. It wasn't that Starsky and Hutch were doing anything wrong, it was the logistics of the tourist areas. In some places, the sheer number of people around made it difficult to keep a direct eye on the pair. The fact that the team had no idea of how or when a move might be made increased the tension.

It was at dinner the next night that a couple approached Starsky and Hutch, mentioned that they'd attended the same luau. They were looking for some other tourists that might be interested in an early morning snorkeling tour.

Since they were supposed to be playing tourist and Hutch was definitely interested in snorkeling, they signed up for the trip even after finding out that the tour began at what Starsky considered to be the ungodly hour of 5 am.

The next morning, they arrived at the designated spot, meeting a small vehicle that the other couple was already in the back of.

Hutch frowned, having expected more people to be taking the tour.

"Don't tell me we were the only other ones that signed up for this?"

"Oh, not at all, Mister Johansen. But the other people are staying at another hotel. The place where the instructors are waiting for us is on the way, so we'll drop you off there, then go pick up the rest. It will be less crowded that way."

Chin was the one keeping track of the detectives this morning.  He followed a respectable distance behind, further than he was comfortable with , but at this early hour, the traffic was very light and he didn't want to draw attention. Several minutes later, Chin started mentally cursing when the vehicle turned off onto a small private road. There was no way he could go down that narrow road without drawing attention. He continued on past, radioing back to the team where they'd turned off at.

Back with Starsky and Hutch, the road they were on led to a shed next to a small dock that had a boat waiting. Hutch had gotten out and was looking over the water while Starsky climbed out.  Both froze when a man stepped out from behind the small building with what looked to be a small assault rifle pointed in their direction.

"Follow instructions and no-one will need to be shot first thing. Both of you – put your right hand on your left shoulder, left hand on right shoulder. Move further apart from each other. Further. Good - stop."

The gun was pointed straight at Starsky now as the couple that had lured them there got out of the vehicle.

"Alright, Judith. Check out Blondie. No point in going any further than this if he's a fake. Stay still and let her do whatever she needs to, Johansen. Or you'll be needing a new friend."

To Hutch's extreme embarrassment, Judith pulled down his pants to the knees.

"Definitely a natural blond. And a blusher too."

"Good. Alright, wrap him up. Remember, Blondie. Key word here is cooperation."

The man tossed a roll of sport wrap over to Judith, who caught it easily.

"Pull your pants back up. No sudden movements. Now - hands together behind you, palm to palm."

Taking the sports wraps, Judith wrapped Hutch's wrists together, taking a few wraps around his hands as well. Once she was satisfied, she moved over to Starsky. He was secured more simply with a pair of handcuffs before the two of them were led over to the boat.

Starsky took a look backwards as they were loaded onto the boat. From the isolated look of the area, he wasn't holding out a lot of hope that he and Hutch were currently under observation by their backup. They'd just have to hope that McGarrett and his team were good enough to find them before too long.


	23. Witnessing Murder

The radio contact from Chin about being forced to stop following the vehicle sent the team into high alert. The news didn't improve when Chin reported back that the vehicle was leaving the area again with no sign of either undercover agent inside.

"Stay with them, Chin. Maybe where they're headed to next will give us a missing piece to this puzzle."

Kono had already spread a large map over his desk and was running his finger over the area along the main road where Chin had seen them turn off.

"No good, boss. Private land area. The road he's talking about doesn't even show up on this map."

"We need aerial photos of the area - yesterday."

"On it."

Steve fought the urge to pace. Danno was out checking up on a tip that had been called in. Kono was sending for the latest aerial images of the area. There was damnably little else he could do at the moment and he certainly didn't want to have to tell Dobey that he'd lost track of two of his best men. Men that he'd thought he was sending **away** from danger.

He looked over as Kono came back in with a thick folder in his hands.  Moving to the conference table, Kono started to lay out the images of the region in question.

"Still can't see much of the road because of how thick the plants are, but if you follow across from where they turned off, look what's on the water."

"A couple of small buildings and a very small dock. Good work, Kono."

Kono cast a discouraged look down at the photos.

"It's not much, boss."

He looked up again when Steve's hand landed on his shoulder.

"It's more than we've had before."

The radio going off caught their attention.  McGarrett grabbed the mike.

"Yes, Chin?"

"Steve - our 'friends' aren't stopping. I've followed them to another hotel and they're speaking with another couple - blond guy with a strawberry-blond guy. It looks like the same sort of small talk that went on just before our guys got into the vehicle with them."

"No time to waste, Chin. Danno's close to your location. Grab him and head back for that road they turned off on earlier. I want Danno to go in on foot and get us some visuals on these jokers."

"Right, boss."

He quickly gave Chin the address, then used the other radio to contact Danny.

"McGarrett here. Drop whatever you're doing and climb into the car with Chin. He'll be there any minute."

"Right, Steve."

He knew Steve well enough to be able to glean some information from that very short conversation. Something big and likely bad had happened and it wasn't something that could be spoken of openly over the usual police frequencies. His thoughts immediately leapt over to thoughts of the undercover detectives. This was the second day after the luau, the same day that they knew some of the other men had vanished on. The thought suddenly gave him an icy feeling in the pit of his stomach as he remembered that Chin was the one who was supposed to be keeping an eye on the two men. If he was coming here instead of that, that meant a very big problem had come up.

He saw the car approaching. Chin barely slowed enough to let him climb into the car.

"Sorry, but we're under the gun time-wise. They're in the process of picking up another couple of guys and I need to get you where I'm supposed to drop you off and then get out of sight before they spot me."

"Steve didn't really give me any details, Chin. What is it I need to do?"

"Starsky and Hutch are missing. The vehicle that picked them up this morning turned off onto a little private drive where I couldn't follow without alerting them. When the vehicle came back out again, the guys weren't in it. Our suspects are probably already in route to the private road again. I'm supposed to drop you off and Steve wants you to try and get some visuals on what's going on back there. Might be innocent, of course, but with the timing? Smells bad."

Chin spared a brief glance over to Danny.

"Be careful, Danny. Keep out of sight - we already know these folks don't stop short of killing. Oh, and there's a pair of binoculars in the back seat. You might want them with you."

"Got 'em. Thanks. So, how close are we?"

"Almost there - get ready."

Danny literally ran from the car into the thick plants on the side of the little road. Tempting as it was to take the road a little way for easier movement, he had no way of knowing when their suspects might turn down the road and, if he wanted a longer life, getting seen by them was not an option.

Moving as quickly as he could manage in the thick growth, Danny mentally cursed a bit that he really wasn't well dressed for this activity. Getting to near the end of the main growth, he removed his jacket and shoes, balling them up together and tossing them under a bush while he concentrated on climbing up a tree that looked sturdy enough and tall enough that he should be able to get a view of whatever might be happening - hopefully while staying hidden by the growth. He was in the process of heaving himself up onto the branch that he was aiming for when he heard the noise of an approaching motor. Taking a deep breath, Danny steeled himself not to move as the vehicle went past his location, fearing that any movement on his part might draw an eye upward.

As soon as it was underneath him, Danny made a final effort with his aching arms and scrambled up the remaining distance. Straddling the limb near the trunk to try and blend into the tree itself as much as possible, he pulled around the binoculars to do a quick survey over the area. Boat near a little dock. Guy coming from around a small building with a weapon pointing at the guys that were just getting out of the vehicle.

Focusing the binoculars, Danny watched as the woman jerked down the Bermuda shorts that the blond man was wearing. The way she shook her head over to the others gave Danny a very bad feeling. Especially as the two men's wrists were bound behind them before they were forced toward the boat.

Adjusting the range on the binoculars again, Danny suddenly caught sight of Starsky and Hutch. The view didn't exactly encourage him, but at least he knew they were alive and, as well as he could tell, were currently unharmed. The two undercover men were being forced to the edge of the boat. From the arm movements, the men with the newest kidnapping victims were saying something, but they were facing away from him, so Danny couldn't even attempt lip reading.

Without warning, one of the men brought the butt of his weapon down hard on the head of the blond in the Bermuda shorts before shoving the stunned and bound man into the water. He could see Hutch screaming and starting forward, but the detective was quickly restrained and hauled back by the men on the boat. As Danny had already feared, the other bound man quickly followed the first blond into the water. It was a cold-blooded pair of murders that made Danny sick to have to witness, but he was too far away to have been able to make any difference in the outcome.

Taking a breath to steady his thoughts, Danny forced himself to take in as many details as he could make out. Descriptions of the woman and the men. The type of boat and what numbers and writing he could make out. He didn't dare come back down out of the tree until the vehicle left again so he kept an eye on the boat.

He could still see where the two detectives were. Danny couldn't get a good view of them any longer, but he was grateful that they seemed destined to remain on the boat instead of being dumped into the water. The boat engine started and as the boat left the dock, the couple climbed back into the vehicle to leave. Again, Danny stayed very still until the car's sounds had faded. His main focus remained on the boat though - watching to see what direction it headed off in. Only so far a boat that size could go, after all.

Casting a final glance to where the two men had been thrown into the water, Danny muttered a soft curse.  They wouldn't even be able to send anyone to recover the bodies until the operation was over.  After all, how would anyone explain knowing where to look without alerting the killers?   made his way back out of the tree. Jamming his shoes on, he didn't bother to put the jacket back on as he jogged his way back to the main road, taking the chance of using the small road to make the trip faster. He didn't think anyone would be driving back down it for awhile.

Back at the main road, there was no sign of Chin. Groaning, Danny again sent an unkind thought toward his footwear and began walking back toward town. He'd been walking for about fifteen minutes when McGarrett pulled up alongside him.

"Climb in, Danno. Chin's still following the others."

"Figured as much."

The tone of his voice and the tiredness on Danny's features had very little to do with the amount of physical exertion he'd had to do. McGarrett didn't press until he started the car rolling again.

"See anything?"

Danny's blue eyes were focused somewhere far from the car they were in as he answered.

"I witnessed two men killed in cold-blood while I was too far away to do a damn thing to prevent it. And even if I'd been closer, I probably still couldn't have done anything to save them without getting Dave and Ken killed."

McGarrett gave a glance over to Danny, who was still looking off into the distance.

"You saw them?"

"Yeah. Their captors made them watch the other pair of men die. Probably as an example of what would happen to them if they didn't cooperate. They both had their arms behind their backs, so even though I couldn't see how from my angle, I think we can assume they're tied in some way. Even so, they had to pull Ken back from trying to go in after him after they dumped the first guy into the water."

"Let's hope that didn't blow their cover. Anything else?"

"I've got some of the numbers off the boat and a decent description of it. Maybe we can trace it. Also jotted down descriptions of the other people that I could get a look at.  One of them had an assault rifle.  Not a style I recognized though."

"Good work, Danno. Let's get back and hope that this leads us somewhere. Time's not on our side or Ken and Dave's either."

Slumping into the seat, Danny closed his eyes. It sure didn't feel like good work. In their jobs, they had to examine and deal with a number of dead bodies. Watching someone becoming one of those dead bodies and not being able to prevent it was an entirely different matter. The only thing he could do for them now was to make sure that their murderers wouldn't get away with it.


	24. Who Do We Trust?

Sometimes it amazed Starsky just how hard some things could hit Hutch even after all their years on the streets and the hell they'd both witnessed and experienced first hand. When the men forced them to go to the side of the boat while the other two men were being brought over to the dock, Starsky already had the feeling that something very bad was about to go down. Hutch was wary as well, he knew that. He could see it in his partner's body language. But Hutch was totally unprepared for the utter ruthlessness of the men being killed in front of them.

Hutch's reaction took their captors off guard as well. They barely caught hold of him in time to keep him from going off of the boat himself. As they dragged him back, screaming at him, one of them turned to Starsky.

"What the hell is Johansen's problem? He got a death wish?"

Starsky threw his brain into overdrive and got a flash of inspiration from a life ring hanging on the boat.

"He trained as a lifeguard. You tossing a guy into the water in front of him is like starting a fire in front of a fireman. He can't help but react."

The men seemed mollified at that explanation and Starsky sent up a silent prayer to any higher power that might be listening as he was forced back to sit next to his still trembling partner. Starsky leaned against Hutch as much as he dared to try and help him get his emotions back under control.

Getting everything back under control was what Hutch was trying to do. While still furious about what had just happened to the other two men, there wasn't a single solitary thing he could do for them now. He also knew without the slightest doubt that Starsky's lifespan depended on his own. If these people decided that he was too much trouble to keep, they wouldn't keep Starsky alive either. There was no way to know if the others even knew they'd been taken or where they were. He knew as well as Starsky did that a tail wouldn't have been able to risk following them down that little one-lane road.

As if reading his thoughts, Starsky gave him a little nudge and whispered.

"It's 'who do we trust time' again."

Hutch gave a barely perceptible nod, took a deep cleansing breath and forced his mind into meditation. What McGarrett and his team did now was completely out of their hands. Their goal had become one of survival.

* * *

It didn't take someone that knew Danny as well as McGarrett did to see that the whole experience had him upset. What did take knowledge to know was just how deeply that upset went. Considering some of the things they'd been through together, it was saying a lot to acknowledge that he was having a hard time remembering Danny ever being this shaken before.

The car had barely stopped before Danny was out and heading for their offices and a phone at nearly a run. Kono started to say something to him as he passed by, but refrained, his mouth still partially open with the unvoiced greeting. The grim expression on McGarrett's face when he came in just a few minutes later didn't make Kono's mind any easier. His eyes still strayed over to Danny as he filled McGarrett in on what he'd been doing.

"Boss – got word out to the pilot community that we're looking for any aerial photos taken along this coast from the timeframe when the first guys we know of went missing up to present."

"Good thinking. Someone might have caught a shot of something without knowing what they were taking a picture of."

McGarrett's eyes went over to Danny as well as he was reciting the numbers and other markings that he'd seen on the boat over the phone. Even as he flipped through the small pocket notebook he'd used to take quick notes in once he'd recovered his jacket, Danny pulled a larger pad to him and began furiously writing down the other details of what he'd seen while they were still fresh in his mind.

As soon as he'd relayed over everything that might help in tracking down the registration for the boat, Danny paused long enough to make another call to have an identification kit sent over so that he could try to put together a mug shot for the men that he'd gotten a good look at through the binoculars. When both his notes and his memories collided with seeing the first man being struck down, Danny rose from his desk quickly and nearly ran for the bathroom.

Steve and Kono exchanged glances, then moved together to follow Danny. He wasn't hard to find. He was by one of the toilets, violently throwing up.

Kono headed back out, returning shortly with a cup and a washcloth. After filling the cup half-full of water, he dampened the cloth and then moved over to Danny, offering him the cup.

"Easy there, bruddah. Rinse your mouth out."

Danny took the cup and followed the rinsing suggestion before gratefully accepting the cool, damp cloth and running it across the back of his neck and his face.

"Thanks a lot, Kono."

Steve kept an eye on things but didn't speak until Danny made it over to the sink.

"Danno?"

"Sorry, Steve. That kind of helpless feeling is one I could do without ever having to experience again."

"What happened out there, man?"

"Those last two guys they picked up. They drowned them, Kono. Made Ken and Dave watch it too. Ken didn't react well either. I really thought he was about to go into the water himself for a minute. We've got to find them fast, Steve."

"We will, Danno. We know more now than we did before and now we at least have a starting point."

Chin came in just as the trio was exiting the bathroom. He gave them all an inquiring look, but didn't comment on Danny's rumpled appearance.

"I got information on our two latest kidnapping victims."

"Murder victims."

The tight sound in Danny's voice when he said that told Chin a lot about why his friend was looking so rough. It also made him feel bad about sharing the rest of the news.

"They were brothers. Same father, different mothers. They'd never met before and decided coming to Hawaii to meet would be a good chance for them to get to know one another."

The phone rang just then and Kono went to answer it. The change in his expression as he was listening had all of them looking to him as he hung up the phone.

"That was Officer Lukela. He's on his way here. And he was asking about Starsky and Hutch. By name."


	25. More Complications

When the boat reached the dock, Starsky was the first one forced off and was obviously being kept near the edge of the dock. Hutch read the threat and cooperated with moving down the dock to a small pavilion of sorts where a group of four, two men and two women, were waiting on them. It didn't escape his attention that all four of the group were blonde haired and blue eyed, but obviously not captives themselves.  They were dressed in well tailored, expensive clothing.

To his extreme disgust, Hutch found himself being sized up like he was some sort of animal at an auction. The examination also entailed the systematic removal of his clothing which mortified him, but Starsky had been moved very deliberately into his line of vision. Again acknowledging the unspoken threat, he didn't fight the procedure though he couldn't help the flinching at being prodded and occasionally groped. Starsky did what little he could do for his partner, locking eyes with him and giving him their connection to concentrate on to help him try to ignore what was being done to him. Even so, he didn't think his fair skinned partner could be any redder if he had an all-over sunburn.

Then he saw his partner wincing and shifted his gaze just a bit to see what they were doing to Hutch. One of the men was taking blood samples and, once that was done, they forced him to give a urine sample as well. The man who was behind Hutch kept him steady until the sample bottle was sealed, then he looped something around Hutch's neck and used some sort of tool to crimp it in the back. Once that was done, they wrapped what was basically a spa towel around Hutch's waist.  Then Starsky was herded to Hutch's side before the men gave them a push to start them walking toward the main building. As with getting off the boat, they forced Starsky slightly into the lead so that he would remain in Hutch's line of sight.

The building they entered seemed new and rather spartan. Once inside, they were taken down a long hallway and then steered into a room.  The room was basically a cell. Two cots. Two chairs. One table. One toilet in the back corner of the room. Starsky was stopped at the door while Hutch was pushed on inside and they both felt a moment of panic when it seemed that they might be separated.

After a moment of silence, one of the men started to speak, his tone not unlike that of a no-nonsense teacher.

"Listen closely.  The time has come to explain the basic facts of the rest of your existence. This room here is temporary. You two are going to be kept in isolation until Johansen's test results come back. If he's free of diseases and drugs, the two of you will go to nicer accommodations. Disease free but not drug free? The two of you will be staying here until he detoxes."

They both noted that what would happen if Hutch wasn't disease free wasn't spoken of. That along with being a bleached blond was apparently in the realm of a death sentence here.

"As for you, Levitch?  Your quality of life as well as your length of life is all up to Johansen here. So your job is to keep your friend here in good condition. Because if he goes? You go. Johansen, if you cooperate and do what you're told to do when you're told to do it? Life can be quite good for both of you. But you buck the rules and the penalties will be taken out on Levitch. Ever hear the story about a prince's whipping boy?"

Starsky wasn't sure what the hell the man was talking about, but from the way Hutch stiffened, he knew that story wasn't a good one.

"Yeah. I know the story."

"Then nothing more needs to be said, does it?"

To Starsky's surprise, the cuffs were removed from him before he was motioned to join Hutch in the room.

"Now - consider these your first lessons in how things are going to be now. Johansen's arms are to remain wrapped until we give you permission to remove them. Food will be arriving shortly. Make sure he eats."

* * *

Back at headquarters, Officer Duke Lukela found himself the center of attention as soon as he walked through the door. It obviously wasn't the reaction he was expecting. Nor was the intensity McGarrett had when he pointed him over to a chair.

"You called here asking about two California policemen by name. Why?"

"I thought we should locate these guys and try to warn them, sir."

Duke reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper, passing it over to McGarrett.

"A guy I get information from on my beat gave this to me. Some bumbucha mainland haole is offering some serious money for those two guys."

"Danno, take a look at this."

Reaching out to take the paper, Danny looked it over and frowned.

"Someone on the inside did this. Either in California or here."

Looking over to Chin and Kono, Danny filled them in.

"Same photos and same misidentification as we got."

"Just what we didn't need. How many of these 'wanted' posters are floating around out there?"

"My guy says they're pretty thick in certain spots. Some bars, fences - places like that. I called you guys the second I got hold of this."

The dour moods in the room were making him think the worst.

"It already too late?"

The men all exchanged looks, then McGarrett made the decision.

"We're in a situation where we're likely to need you for extra manpower. Let me clear it with your chief and then we'll catch you up to speed."

Steve stepped into his office. Kono offered Duke some coffee. Conversation was pretty much limited to that until Steve came back into the room and gave Danny the nod. Reading that as the okay to go ahead, Danny pulled out the fax they'd gotten a few days before and slid it in front of the officer.

"They aren't over here as tourists. They came here to help us work a case undercover."

It only took two beats for him to look back up to Danny.

"From the glum looks, I'm guessing these guys have already started their assignments and, if the ones you are after catch wind of this, it could be bad."

"The guys we're after have already killed six men - two of them earlier today. I don't think assuming they'd kill two more would be a stretch."

Chin frowned at the 'wanted' flyer.

"Even worse, they're missing right now. Along with at least eight other men."

The phone rang and Kono went over to his desk to answer it. Hanging up, he left briefly, then returned with a box.

"First response from the local pilots, boss. His brother does photography as a hobby. This is everything he's taken from the air this year. It's a lot of stuff, but it's divided up by month at least."

"Everybody grab a folder. Danno, take the most recent folder. Between all of us, we can cover the last five months. Right now, this might be our best shot at finding where they took Ken and Dave."


	26. Getting Worse

Starsky had no doubts that he and his other non-blond counterparts weren't living the easy life. Not if the blondes they were taking care of were anything at all like Hutch beyond the hair and eyes. The immediate fact of life was that there was practically nothing that his usually very self-reliant partner could do for himself. That became painfully obvious when Starsky had to feed him and hold a cup for him to get a drink.

The whole set-up from the beginning seemed specifically geared to take all control away. More than that really. Starsky thought back to the word that the man had used. Lessons. They were getting him used to taking care of Hutch and getting Hutch used to having to deal with disagreeable rules.

Something else the man had said came back to Starsky then.

"Hey Ken. That guy said something about a story. What was that all about?"

Hutch shifted his shoulders to try to relieve the ache in them. Noticing that, Starsky moved behind him and started to massage them while Hutch spoke.

"Back in the past, a prince would be raised alongside another boy of around his own age. They would attend the same classes, be playmates and generally be companions for one another. Since only the King and Queen outranked the prince, the people in charge of raising the prince couldn't really punish him, so if he did something wrong, his companion would be the one punished. So the companions came to be called whipping boys."

"Man. That sounds like it sucked. I'm guessing these boys were orphans? 'Cause I can't imagine a parent would be volunteering their kid for a life like that."

"That's because you aren't looking at it from the right angle, buddy. And actually, they were usually the children of higher ranking folks. Think of it from the parent's view. You have a chance for one of your children to become one of people closest to someone who is going to be your next king. And since he lives, eats and studies with the prince, that also means your kid is going to get an education equal to that of the prince."

"So – him using that term was just another way to pound in that you and me are linked."

"That's what I'm guessing. Right now, I just really wish they'd let me have my hands loose."

"I know, buddy, I know. But I think we both know that neither of us will enjoy it if we break the rules. You need anything?"

"No. Not really, Dave. Just - tired."

"Come on then. Let's get you settled onto a cot."

Hutch followed along without arguing, but gave the cot a sour look.

"I can't even move the blanket over myself."

"Hey - we are going to get through this. Together. Right now is my time taking care of you. Time will come that you're taking care of me. We just have to be strong for each other, right?"

"Right."

As Starsky was getting the blanket out of the way so that Hutch could lay down, the door opened revealing their 'instructor'.

"Everything is still in place? Very good. I think you're ready for the next stage. Go sit in one of the chairs, Johansen."

This was one of those cases where Hutch was feeling that things were going to get worse before they got better. His pessimism proved justified as the man pulled out a strip of cloth from his pocket and held it out to Starsky.

"Blindfold him. And make it snug. Because if you don't, I can guarantee it will be tight enough to dig in if I have to redo it."

Taking the cloth, Starsky took a deep breath and moved over behind his partner. He really, really hated this. If anyone else was trying to put this thing on Hutch, he'd have been fighting them tooth and nail. Right now, the only person Hutch could fight was himself and he was. The evidence was there in the slight tremor running through Hutch's body and the light sheen of sweat that formed as one of the last vestiges of his independence was removed.

The man came over and inspected Starsky's work, giving a satisfied grunt after a moment. He then lifted up the small tag that was on the choker they had crimped around Hutch's neck. Pulling out a booklet, he made a small note. Tucking the booklet back away, he pulled out a bottle and opened it.

"Have him swallow this, then get him into bed. Tomorrow will be a big day for both of you."

Feeding a unknown pill to his partner didn't set well, but refusing wasn't going to help either. Quietly seething, Starsky got some water into a glass and helped Hutch get the pill down.

Once he was satisfied that the pill was taken, the man just nodded to himself and left the room. Starsky gathered Hutch against him for a minute.

"I am so, so sorry, buddy."

"Hey. Listen to me. Staying alive. That's the name of this game, okay? Just get me over to the cot. I don't feel so well."

"You don't think that they -"

Hutch shifted just enough so that their foreheads would touch. He didn't need to see for that. His voice went down to a barely audible whisper.

"No, I don't, babe. They enjoyed killing those two guys too much to kill me in my sleep. They're not just training me. They're training you too. Doesn't matter. We're survivors, right? Whatever it takes."

Starsky gave Hutch a pat and helped him to get up.

"What if -"

"No. Don't go there. Now. All there is - is now."

"Okay, okay. Come on. Let's get you to your bed, Sleeping Beauty."

"If that means you're going to try to pass yourself off as Prince Charming, no dice, pal."

"I'm wounded. I think I'd make a really good Prince Charming. Okay, ease back. I've got you."

Grabbing the blanket, Starsky started arranging it over Hutch, then the thing around his friend's neck got his attention again. Touching the tag, he lifted it as the man had done to see what was on it. Hutch couldn't see Starsky go pale, but he did feel the freezing of movement.

"Dave? What is it?"

"They have this tag thing attached to you. With a number. 22."

"Oh my God."

Both men did the math. Even after subtracting the dead blondes, that would mean there were potentially 16 more blue-eyed blondes and their companions unaccounted for. And they both wondered - not for the first time - just what they had landed in the middle of.


	27. Making Connections

Officer Lukela was taking a break from looking over the aerial photos and was thumbing through the photos and information on the men known to be missing or dead. He suddenly stopped and then relooked at one of the previous pages again. A minute later found him reaching for one of the telephones.

His expression and actions caught Kono's attention and he found himself leaving his seat to move over closer. As the phone was hung up again, Kono moved the rest of the way over.

"You okay there, Duke?"

"Not really. These are some sick people, Kono. And I think they were working on Lanai before they came here."

Duke suddenly found himself as the center of attention. McGarrett put down the photo he had in his hand.

"Care to explain that?"

Taking a glass of water as Danny offered it, Duke took a sip of it then started talking.

"My cousin is married to a cop on Lanai. He and I get together sometimes - talk shop. You know how that goes. I remembered him talking about an unusual amount of accidents happening on the island with tourists and made a call over there for details. The men weren't in pairs, but they were all blondes. This note here is what made me think of that. The bodies that were found all were bottle blondes, as my mom would say. But there were at least six guys that were presumed to have drowned, but their bodies were never found. Kale's going to send us copies of the files on the six missing guys."

"Good thought, Duke. Danno? Let's call up the other islands. See if any of them have had periods where blond tourists seemed to have been suddenly accident prone or gone missing. They were acting like a well-oiled machine. Maybe they worked out the kinks on some of the other islands first."

"Right, Steve."

* * *

Starsky had no idea how long he'd been asleep before a soft moan from Hutch startled him awake. He was at his friend's side in just a minute, taking in the restlessness and the light sheen of sweat on Hutch's body. A quick touch ruled out fever, so the odds were that Hutch was having a nightmare. Not that Starsky could blame him for that.

"Ken? Come on, Blondie. Wake up. Just a bad dream. I know waking up is going to be a bad dream too, buddy, but I'm right here with you. It'll be alright."

He felt the shudder run through Hutch and the sudden catch of breath before Hutch spoke in a near whisper.

"Right. Blindfold. Damn this sucks."

"I know, babe. I know. Maybe -"

The door opened suddenly, cutting off whatever Starsky had been about to say. The man entering was a different one than before. He just looked over the two of them briefly before speaking.

"Get him on his feet, then both of you follow me."

The hallway was chilly and Starsky frowned at the way Hutch was shivering. It was chilly, but not **that** chilly and his Minnesota raised counterpart could normally deal with the cold pretty well.

"In here. Twenty-two needs to be cleaned up. You can remove the wrap now. And the blindfold. Put them over on that bench once you remove them."

Starsky stiffened a bit as Hutch was referred to as a number. One more step of de-personalizing his partner. Man - they might both have to pay a visit to the department shrink when this was all over.

As with practically everything else, Hutch wasn't allowed to do anything for himself and he ended up clenching his hands into fists in a combination of frustration and embarrassment as Starsky had to give him a shower. Worse, the man never let them leave his sight for a minute and as soon as Hutch had been dried, his hands were bound behind him again - this time with a leather strap cinched around both wrists. The man picked up the blindfold, but didn't put it on Hutch. Instead, he handcuffed Starsky again. That didn't bode well to either of them.

"Follow me. When we get to where we are going, you will not speak even if spoken to. You will obey all directions or there will be consequences."

When they came to a doorway, Hutch was forced inside while Starsky was made to remain in the hall. Despite his efforts to stay calm, he ended up pacing the entire time. Starsky wasn't sure how long he was in that room, but it seemed like quite a while. When Hutch finally came out, he seemed upset. He didn't say anything, but the main thing that worried Starsky was that his partner was avoiding meeting his eyes. Not that it was even possible for long. The man put the blindfold back on Hutch before uncuffing Starsky.

"Follow me with twenty-two. You're being moved."

Taking hold of Hutch's arm, Starsky had to bite his tongue to keep himself from snapping at the man to quit calling his friend by a number. The tremor he could feel running through Hutch wasn't helping his feelings in the least and he was fairly sure that the chill air was only part of the reason.


	28. A Turn for the Worse

After the new information arrived from Lanai, it was Kono who went back even further with the aerial photographs and startled everyone in the room with a triumphant whoop. Every pair of eyes in the room were on him and the smile on his face.

"Duke coming up with this stuff going on for so much longer than we knew? I was thinking maybe these guys weren't always so careful. Take a look at this photo."

The Five-O team and Duke all came over and looked. Steve looked down at the image and frowned, failing to see why Kono was so excited.

"Trees and beach. What's to see?"

"Well, take a look at that same area eight months back, boss."

Steve's eyebrow went up. Buildings and a dock. None of them evident in the later shots. Then he took a closer look at the later shots.

"Guys? Take a look at this."

Grabbing a pen, Steve took three of the newer photos of the same region and started circling. Outside of those circles, the foliage had some subtle alterations here and there – going greener, becoming spotted with flowers, etc. Inside the circle? Everything was staying the same. Danny voiced it for all of them.

"Some kind of camouflage. Damn. Has to be."

"Agreed, Danno. Good work, Kono. Let's get ready to go, men. We need a helicopter and a boat for this. We need to locate Starsky and Hutch before these men find out who they really are and get rid of them."

* * *

Back at the building, Starsky guided Hutch into their new room. A step up in size from the last one, but still pretty spartan. Still, the beds were larger and not as hard plus they now had an actual bathroom. There was also a table that had food already waiting on them.

"You know the routine. Make sure twenty-two eats and after he does, make sure he takes his pill. He should be clear to start work day after tomorrow."

Neither of them said anything until the man left, locking the door noisily behind him. Then Starsky guided Hutch to a chair.

"Babe? What's wrong? Don't tell me nothing – I know better. Tell me what happened in that room."

"I found out what they want from me."

"So? Don't keep it a secret, Blondie. Spill."

"Genes."

"Jeans? As in denim? I'm not following you, buddy."

"The internal type of genes, you dope. That's why they've been getting rid of the ones that don't have real blond hair and blue eyes. They don't have the right genes."

"Why would they be worried about..?"

It hit Starsky like a ton of bricks.

"They want baby blintzes?"

"Yeah. And what bunch do you know that might put a premium on a guy with blond hair and blue eyes, but that might not be so keen on that guy having a Jewish best friend?"

Starsky cursed softly as everything clicked into place. No wonder Hutch was upset.

"And I'm the insurance that you . . . perform. We gotta get you outta here, babe."

"We've got to get **us** out of here. Problem is - how?"

Upstairs, one of the women was sorting through applications passing them over to her secretary.

"Twenty-two is proving to be very popular. Not that I can blame them. He's an exceptional specimen."

A man who had come in while she was speaking scowled.

"Well, we have a problem with twenty-two."

"Oh no - don't tell me that he failed the last of the tests, Mister Baum?"

"Far worse than that."

Moving over to her desk, he slammed down the flyer.

"Twenty-two and his keeper are cops."


	29. Blown Cover

"Those two are police? Are you sure, Mister Baum?"

"Look at the pictures, Miss Keller - of course I'm sure."

She picked it up and read the flyer thoroughly.

"Bay City, California. Quite the hefty price tag on the pair. I wonder who they annoyed to get that sort of money offered."

"You don't sound worried."

Holding up the flyer, she looked back at him.

"Why would I be? They aren't even from this state. Odds are they came over here to get away from this. Them being partners explains a lot about how they are toward one another, but I don't see why we should be overly concerned."

"You don't mean we going to keep them?"

"Of course we aren't going to keep them. People won't stop looking for a pair of cops. Shame. Twenty-two's sperm promised to be a top seller."

"When do we dump them?"

"Are you insane? We don't 'dump' them. For one thing, if we go from killing tourists to killing cops, we'll lose our cover. Tourists appearing to drown themselves is one thing. Cops are quite another. Not to mention, we've spent money getting processing and tests done on him. Since someone is offering to pay for the pair alive, I don't see why we can't simply sell them to these people in California. Let whoever they are take the rap for killing two cops."

"But if they're looking for them -"

"How? We know very well that neither of them were wearing a wire. And who could have followed us? If anyone had a clue where they were, don't you think someone would have come after them before now?"

Looking back to the flyer, she ran a fingernail across it.

"Get a picture of the pair and fax it over as proof that we have who they want. We'll make arrangements then for the transfer."

"Do you want anything different done with them, Miss Keller?"

"Tether twenty-two. That should keep them where they are. No need to bother with anything else, I shouldn't think. I don't believe the other will abandon his partner. Odd."

"What's odd?"

"The names. If I'd have had to have guessed, I would have said the dark-haired one was Starsky."

In their current room, Hutch was trying to get some sleep with Starsky sitting nearby watching him. The real killer around this place for Starsky was the absolute lack of anything to do. Nothing to read, nothing to watch or listen to except each other. It was so quiet that when the door opened suddenly, he jumped. Hutch startled out of his nap as well.

Starsky had a set of medical scrubs tossed at him by one of the two men that entered.

"You can take the wrist strap off of twenty-two. Dress him in those."

He knew it might not last long, but Hutch took the time after the strap was removed to enjoy the movement in his arms again as he assisted Starsky in getting the scrubs on him.

"Good enough. Go across to the chair and sit down."

Hutch knew they weren't talking to him - he couldn't see anything because of the blindfold. But he heard the rattle of a chain just before something was tightened around his left ankle.

"You can remove your blindfold if you want. So - we have a bet going. Which of you is Starsky and which is Hutchinson?"

Hutch had just pulled the blindfold free and froze at that question briefly, before giving the man a puzzled look.

"Who?"

"They're playing cute, Miss Keller."

The woman brushed back her blonde hair. She was a beautiful woman, but she had all the warmth of dry ice as she moved further into the room with the flyer in her hand, holding it out in front of Starsky's face. He tried not to let the shock show when he realized it was almost identical to the fax sheet that Danny had shown them.

"I don't really think it will matter. Go stand over by your partner, whoever you are. Once we get in touch with this Stryker fellow, I'm certain he can tell one from the other."

She waited until the second man took a picture of the pair.

"Now, you - the dark haired one."

He practically growled in the back of his throat, looking down at the shackle that had been put on Hutch and then back up to the woman. If they were going to die, it wasn't going to be as 'hey you'.

"Starsky."

He was slightly surprised when she smiled at that.

"I knew it! As I was saying, the two of you will not be leaving this room again until we arrange for your pickup. Should you be found outside of this room for any amount of time for any reason, we'll settle for collecting the dead rate on Hutchinson. Because he isn't going anywhere."


	30. Trusting Ohana

Hutch waited until all of the others had left before he sank down to the floor and spoke.

"Starsk - get the hell out of here."

"Forget that, Blintz. You heard what they said."

"Yeah, I did. I'm gone either way, buddy. You aren't. You think I want to imagine you going like Jackson did?"

"You think I could live with thinking about them maybe drowning you for their sick kicks? No - we stick together. Besides - where would I go, genius? We're on an island and swimming with sharks isn't on my vacation itinerary."

Moving to his friend's side, Starsky followed the chain back to where it was anchored. The ring was the top of some sort of stake that seemed to be buried deep in the floor. Starsky couldn't so much as make it wiggle.

Going back to Hutch's side, he sank down next to him and wrapped a hand around the back of his partner's neck, drawing him close until their foreheads touched so that he could speak softly enough to hopefully evade any listening device that might be in the room with them.

"This is one of those times where we're going to have to trust outside of me and thee, babe. Remember what Kono called us? Ohana? From what I understand, that sort of means they adopted us into their brotherhood. We have to trust that it means as much to them as it does to us."

Hutch just lifted a hand and wrapped it around the back of Starsky's neck, mirroring his friend's pose.

"Alright, partner. We keep the faith and we don't give up."

* * *

With the Five-O team, Steve had divided them up. He, Danny and Duke would go in by boat while Kono and Chin went in the helicopter. First order of business was to get their 'eyes' on that area. Then the report came that Steve had been hoping for.

"Chin to McGarrett. That boat is leaving the area. Looks to have several people on board."

"We'll just have to hope none of those on board are the men we're looking for. We're heading in, Chin. Find a place to land that bird and join us."

"Right, Steve."

The pilot wasn't happy with the option, but they had the coordinates of the block building from the earlier photographs and Chin had him made an instrument landing on the top of it. The pilot felt a lot better about that once they were low enough that he could make out the building beneath the camouflage.

As the boat pulled to the dock and Steve led the way up toward the building, it was very evident to all of them that this simply wasn't a scenario that these people were prepared for. The guards were used to dealing with men that were restrained, either physically or by threat. Armed opposition was an entirely different matter. Most of them didn't even carry a weapon unless they were on a specific assignment and there weren't really that many of them. That was another reason for keeping pairs. Making one captive take care of the other had greatly reduced the need for staffing.

Once they found one of the men that could show them where the keys were, the team made use of one of the facility's own cells to corral the men to keep them out of the way as they began to search the other rooms.

The scope of the operation that had been literally going on under their noses was a source of great annoyance to Steve as they began to find men, some of whom had been stuck in this place for over a year. It was frustrating when none of the men they were releasing could give them any news on Starsky and Hutch - everyone had been kept to apart from the other victims except for those that had come in as pairs.

In their room, Starsky and Hutch both tensed as they heard someone approaching the door. When it swung open, it took a beat before Hutch found his voice, hoping that he hadn't dozed off and started dreaming.

"Danny?"

The curly-haired man broke into a smile and yelled down the hall.

"Steve! We've found them!"

Then he holstered his gun as he headed over to the two detectives, looking over the keys to see which one might go to the small lock on Hutch's ankle. Hutch's voice broke in on Danny's thoughts just as Steve reached their door.

"Look for anything that might be labeled twenty-two. That's me."

While Danny stayed with Hutch, Steve drew Starsky to the side and listened intently as he told everything Hutch had found out about what was going on here. As well as that their captors had found out who they were and were in the process of setting up a deal with whoever Stryker's representative was.

"You know, Dave. This might work out well for all of us. You and Ken want Stryker off your backs for good, right?"

"You know it. It was bad enough with him being after us, but neither of us like having other folks getting caught in the crossfire."

"I've got an idea. If the two of you don't mind playing the part of the lure one more time."

Starsky gave a glance over to Hutch before nodding.

"I think I can speak for both of us. If you can put an end to this crap we've been living through, we're with you all the way."

"Good. Let's finish getting the other men they kidnapped out of here and to a hospital.  Then we'll all talk."

"Hey, I just remembered something. Hutch?"

"Yeah, Starsk?"

"When they separated us. What was that place they took you into?"

"Uhm - office. Almost like an executive suite. Seemed to belong to that woman - what did he call her?"

"Miss Keller, wasn't it?"

"That's her."

Starsky gave a grin at that and looked back to McGarrett.

"I think I know how to get to that office are from here. Hutch was blindfolded, but I wasn't."

"Let's go have a look at the office. If they have files, I'd be very interested in seeing them."


	31. Stryker

Stryker was the picture of contentment sitting in his first class seat on the way to Honolulu. Money and contacts could make all things possible. Pulling the right strings, greasing the right palms and he had a release to travel to attend to his sick sister - which he did have, but he wasn't going to waste getting out on a visit to her. He was out of the continental United States and he wasn't going back. A private chartered jet would be waiting on him and once he had Starsky and Hutchinson aboard, the world would see that last of him and that meddlesome pair.

Sipping the last of his drink, he was slightly regretful that he'd be spending the rest of his own days in what he regarded as a backwater country. Still, with his money, he would live like royalty there. The only thing clouding his enjoyment was that he would really love to see Dobey's face when he found out that not only had he scammed his way out of prison, but also had taken away his two pet detectives like he had his partner Elmo Jackson.

A pleasant stewardess came by, picking up glasses and taking care of last minute requests as she informed them all that it was time to fasten their seatbelts for their final approach to the airport. Rubbing his hands briefly in anticipation, Stryker fastened his seatbelt and glanced out of the small window at the large expanse of ocean and the rapidly approaching land.

As he got off of the plane, he saw an older dark haired man in an impeccable charcoal grey suit, light blue shirt and dark blue tie holding a sign bearing Keller's name and Stryker made his way over to the man.

"Are you Mister Stryker's representative?"

"No, I'm Mister Stryker. I wanted to see to this matter personally."

The man nodded lowering the sign and offering his hand.

"Miss Keller sent me to escort you to the hanger where your plane is waiting. All arrangements were made exactly according to your specifications."

"Including the cargo?"

"Especially the cargo, sir. The items you requested are in the hanger so that you can verify authenticity before they're loaded into the hold. Did you bring any associates with you?"

"Two."

"Excellent. Why don't you send them to collect your luggage while we attend to the inspection?"

"Good idea. I want us to be on our way as soon as possible."

"Miss Keller thought that might be the case, sir."

He waited patiently as Stryker sent his two men take care of the luggage, then showed the man to the waiting car. Stryker was quite pleased to see that the hanger they were approaching was a good distance from any other building and let himself out of the car once it stopped.

"No need to rush, sir. They aren't going any where."

"You don't know the trouble that pair and their Captain have given me over the years. I'll have to make sure to send Dobey a souvenir to commemorate the occasion."

As he entered, it took a moment for Stryker's eyes to adjust to the change in light, but when his vision cleared, he smiled. There the pair of irritating detectives were, seated in metal chairs with their hands behind them and a rather large Hawaiian man guarding them.

"It took longer than I thought, but I finally get what I want. You guys would have had longer life expectancies if you'd learned how to play ball."

Both men were genuinely shocked that it was actually Stryker, but Starsky found his voice first.

"Some of us prefer quality of life over quantity."

Stryker just laughed at that.

"You'll change your tune before the end. You may have stuck together in life, but I'll make sure you die separately. And since you spoke up first, you'll get to watch Hutchinson die before you do, Starsky."

The man that met him at the airport spoke up.

"Then you're satisfied that these are the two men you put the contract out on?"

"Very satisfied. If you have a phone available, I'll give the order to wire the funds.  Do you have the account number?"

McGarrett kept his expression stoic as he led Stryker to a phone and provided him with the bank account information.  Once the call was completed, Stryker gave the private plane a nod of approval.

"Everything is in order.  Get them loaded into the hold."

"No need for that. Danno? Get everything?"

"Got it all, Steve."

"Stryker, you are under arrest. Congratulations. You hit the big time. Soliciting a kidnapping over state lines? That's a federal offense. Agents have already collected your associates from the baggage claim area."

Danno came over and put the cuffs on the stunned Stryker as Starsky and Hutch casually brought their arms around to the front then stood. Hutch moved over to McGarrett and offered his hand.

"We really appreciate all the trouble you went to, Steve."

Steve just smiled as Danny turned the custody of Stryker over to the waiting federal officers. It paid to have the right connections some times.

"It was a pleasure, Ken. Especially after everything that you and Dave did to help us wrap up our case here. I doubt Stryker will have as easy of a time getting things his own way in a Federal prison. Especially one far from California."

Starsky frowned.

"I'd still like to know how he got out of the state prison."

"I have little doubt that after Stryker's arrest here, a few heads will roll over that. In the meantime, I spoke with your Captain. He's of the opinion that the two of you need to spend about two more weeks over here to make sure that there's time for word to spread on the streets that there's no longer any money to be had in coming after you."

Kono came over and put an arm around each of the two detectives.

"Good. Time you guys got to see the positive side of being ohana."

Danny nodded agreement.

"We've gotten two sets of dangerous folks out of circulation and there are quite a few men that will be heading back to their families that wouldn't have been without your help. I think that does call for a bit of celebration."

Steve really didn't have to be talked into it and later, as he watched the pair laughing and joking with his team, he sat back with a drink and smiled. They were a little crazy and not at all what he'd expected when he'd requested aid, but he was going to miss them when they headed back to the mainland. Men of that caliber were never easy to find, but always worth the search. No wonder Dobey watched out for them.


	32. Epilogue

To the amusement of the entire Five-O team, neither of the detectives proved to be too good at taking two weeks just to relax. Starsky was able to explain that though.

"Me and Hutch have been living so long waiting for the other shoe to drop, now that it has? I don't think a year's vacation could give us as much relief as that did."

Not that the team minded. For the rest of their time in Hawaii, the pair threw in their skills with McGarrett's team, both at work and play. The entire team ended up accompanying them to the airport when the day finally came that they were headed back home to Bay City.

"The circumstances we had to meet under could have been better, but it has been a pleasure working with the two of you."

Hutch reached out and took Danny's hand.

"Thanks, Danny. You guys have been a great bunch to work with as well. Kono, Chin, Duke, Steve? Any of you find yourself in Bay City, don't hesitate to look us up."

Kono just grinned.

"Might take you up on that. I've always wanted to get a good look at the mainland. We been through a lot together, so leaving or not – you guys are still ohana."

"That actually kept us going when things looked pretty bleak, Kono. We really appreciate it."

"Give Captain Dobey my best. And if you two ever want to relocate to Hawaii, we can always use good men here."

Starsky was the one to take McGarrett's hand.

"We will, Steve. And hey, never say never. If we ever decided to leave Bay City for good, there are certainly worse places to end up. Always good to know there's another spot we could hang our hats."

Chin just chuckled.

"I take it you two plan to remain a package deal?"

The pair exchanged glances and shrugged in perfect unison to the amusement of the team.

"As my grandmother always told me, don't fix something if it ain't broke."

Hutch reached out for his partner's arm.

"Don't get too deep into your grandmother's sayings. We'll miss our flight."

With one final round of goodbyes, Starsky and Hutch headed for the plane - very pleasantly surprised when they discovered that McGarrett had apparently pulled one more set of strings and had them upgraded to first class seats. Considering the length of the flight, the extra space and comfort was much appreciated, especially by Hutch's legs.

Huggy was waiting for them at the airport, all smiles as he looked them over.

"As expected, you two are still color challenged, but it's good to have you back. Word has been thoroughly put out on the street. Only way I could have gotten it out more would have been to make a commercial. Dobey said to tell you that since tomorrow is Friday anyway, give him a call to report in, then take some time to get through the mail and dust that has accumulated at your residences and he'll see your bright, shining faces first thing Monday."

"Sounds good here. Hey, Hutch? What do you wanna do this weekend?"

"I'm open for about anything but fishing - or any other activity that involves the words 'bait' or 'lure'."

"I'm with you there, pal of mine. Totally with you."


End file.
